Inset: Onyx Sands (WAVE). Left: Edward Sark. Right: Shelby Bisconer (Louisville Metropolitan Department of Corrections).
A Kentucky woman pleaded guilty to her role in leaving a 6-year-old girl paralyzed during a road rage shooting.
Shelby Bisconer was set to go on trial this week, but instead entered a guilty plea on Tuesday to wanton endangerment charges for injuring young Onyx Sands, according to local Fox affiliate WDRB. She's slated to be sentenced on Nov. 3.
The shooting occurred on July 10, 2023, in Louisville.
Cops say it was Edward M. Sark, then 22, who fired the shot that hit the girl. He is set to go on trial in November on charges of first-degree assault and four counts of first-degree wanton endangerment.
Motorcyclists were weaving and speeding through traffic on the day in question, according to court documents obtained by WAVE.
One of the bikers, Sark, allegedly shot out the back window of the SUV where the young girl was riding. He struck Onyx in the back, severing her spine, according to the GoFundMe started for her family.
Bisconer rode on Sark's bike. Authorities said she also fired several shots at the SUV.
AJ Gibbs, assistant special agent in charge of ATF's Louisville Field Division, told reporters in a press conference that the shooting was a "selfish act of others."
Bisconer was released on house arrest.
A third man, Jonathan Rivera, was indicted federally for being a convicted felon with a gun, but not for shooting the child. He has since pleaded guilty and is required to testify against Sark.
"I feel a lot better," Onyx told WAVE of the arrests.
"Despite the obstacles that Onyx now faces, this little girl has shown tremendous spirit and bravery," Gibbs said. "Onyx's mother put it best that Onyx is a perfect little girl."
The GoFundMe says that her mother, nurse Chyna Sands, must now work "around the clock" to care for her daughter.
From the campaign:
She should not be "glued down" to the hospital bed as she describes it. She should be "flipping and flopping" like the energetic 6 year old that she is. With this new information Onyx's mom, a registered nurse who has committed to taking care of others cannot work as she now has to provide around the clock care for her baby girl. We want to ensure that her mother is able to be with her as much as possible and being that she is a single mother who works very hard saving lives as a nurse, this will be a tough task for her to take on because she will not be able to be away from Onyx for 12 hours at a time. We want to help support her through this new transition.
The life-changing injury affected how she eats dinner or brushes her teeth, according to WDRB.
"I don't think I'll ever have peace of mind," Chyna Sands told the outlet. "Nothing that we can do to these people will ever change what my baby has had to go through."
Alberto Luperon contributed to this report