Fatal shooting on E. Frontage Road near 7 Mile Road, Caledonia
CALEDONIA, Wis. - Caledonia police, with help from the U.S. Marshals Service, arrested a man in connection to an April homicide.
Caledonia homicide arrest
What we know:
The Caledonia Police Department said 24-year-old Jerome Howell of Milwaukee was arrested without incident at a Brown Deer address on June 20.
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Howell is charged with felony murder, attempted armed robbery and possession of a firearm by a felon. Court records show he is being held in the Racine County Jail on $100,000 bond.
Jerome Howell
Caledonia shooting
The backstory:
According to police, law enforcement was called for a report of a man down near Frontage Road and 7 Mile Road on the night of April 7.
Caledonia police officers and Racine County sheriff’s deputies arrived to find a 26-year-old Milwaukee man lying on the ground with a gunshot wound to the head. He was taken to a hospital, where he died from his injuries.
FOX6 News previously identified the victim as DaShaun Elam, who Waukesha County prosecutors said was at the center of a serial theft investigation when he was killed.
Surveillance image from Caledonia shooting (April 7)
Surveillance video obtained by FOX6 News showed a white pickup truck pull out from a gas station and onto the side of the road. About six minutes later, a car circled around and pulled up in front of the pickup truck. People got out, and less than two minutes later, Elam was shot.
Both the car and pickup took off, leaving Elam on the ground alive and wounded at the time. Video showed the car circling back. Two people got out and went toward Elam – but eventually they drove off again, leaving him on the ground.
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Dig deeper:
According to a criminal complaint, Howell and Elam were in the car that pulled up in front of the truck. The video "appears" to show Howell and the victim showing the driver of the truck something. At one point, people started running. The victim approached the passenger side of the truck, someone inside opened the door, a shot could be heard, and the victim fell to the ground.
The truck driver got back in the truck, which drove off. Court filings said Howell got back into the car, which drove off. However, the car later returned and "it appears" Howell took something from the victim before the car drove off again.
Fatal shooting on E. Frontage Road near 7 Mile Road, Caledonia
Prosecutors said someone who knew Elam informed investigators that Elam and his friends "set up fake tool sales on line [sic] and then rob the buyers." The person believed that was why the group was in Racine County on the night Elam was killed.
A day after the shooting, the complaint states the pickup truck was seen driving in Chicago with a passenger window that appeared to have been "shot out." A detective went to Chicago and spoke to the driver, who admitted he was the driver on the night of the shooting.
The driver later said he had received a call from an unknown number offering to sell him tools for $2,400, which he said "was not unusual" because he sells tools at flea markets, according to court filings. He agreed to meet the caller, but said he asked his nephew to come with "because he felt uneasy." He also admitted he had a gun in the center console of his truck.
When they got to the meetup location in Caledonia, prosecutors said the man told investigators there were no tools and one of the men was wearing a mask. One of the men said "this is a robbery" and pulled out a gun, so he ran. He said his nephew shot one of the men, and "they were scared" and drove off.
Waukesha serial theft case, man accused killed in Caledonia shooting
Waukesha County prosecutors dismissed charges against a man after learning the man had been killed a week before charges were even filed.
Investigators also spoke to the driver of the car Howell and Elam arrived in. He said he drove Howell's car because Elam said he "needed to get money from someone." He denied knowing they were planning to rob someone and said he did not see either of them with a gun.
Ongoing investigation
What's next:
The Caledonia Police Department said it has made other arrests as a result of the ongoing homicide investigation, and additional arrests are expected. However, no one else has been charged at this time.
What you can do:
Anyone with information about the April homicide is urged to call the Caledonia Police Department at 262-835-4423.
The Source: The information in this post was provided by the Caledonia Police Department.