Fond du Lac 2023 homicide, 2 sentenced to life in prison

FOND DU LAC, Wis. - Two people have been sentenced to life in prison for shooting and killing a person, and injuring others, in Fond du Lac back in May 2023.

The shooting happened on May 7, 2023, at Maplewood Commons near Martin Avenue and Pioneer Road.

Responding officers found three shooting victims, two women, ages 20 and 18 and a man, age 49. All were taken to hospitals. The 20-year-old, identified as Tatyanna Zech, later died.

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Police said the shooters ran away, with multiple agencies looking for them. Police issued felony warrants for Antonio Johnston and Parise Larry, who were 17 and 14 years old at the time, respectively.

Parise Larry turned himself in a few days after the shooting, while Antonio Johnston was arrested in Chicago several months later.

Conviction and sentencing

What we know:

Parise Larry, now 16 years old, was found guilty at a jury trial on eight felony charges, including first-degree intentional homicide.

Antonio Johnston, now 19 years old, pleaded guilty to eight felony charges, including first-degree intentional homicide.

On Friday, Dec. 19, 2025, they were both sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of release.

Altercation in court during sentencing

What we know:

According to the Fond du Lac County Sheriff's Office, during the sentencing hearing of Parise Larry, family and friends of both him and the victims who were in the public gallery of the courtroom got into a verbal argument. Within seconds, it got physical.

The judge immediately adjourned the hearing and the defendant and judge left the courtroom, attorneys and court staff moved to a safer location, and sheriff’s deputies and Fond du Lac police officers worked to regain control of the crowd.

The group went into the public hallways of the courthouse. More deputies and officers were requested to respond.

Several minutes after the situation was stabilized and those involved were separated and escorted away, another physical confrontation happened among those still in the courtroom. An adult woman was ultimately arrested for disorderly conduct and booked into jail. Other people were escorted from the building.

The altercations affected other court proceedings that were happening in three other courtrooms. One of those hearings was just concluding, and the judge adjourned and left the bench, a second judge was forced to pause their hearing until the situation was stabilized, and a third hearing was suspended and that courtroom locked down to keep everyone safe inside.

Following the first series of disturbances, some people who had left the courthouse lingered and occasionally got into verbal confrontations in the north parking lot. More deputies and officers who were already monitoring the crowd leaving ultimately arrested an adult man who, through investigation, had been identified as an instigator of the initial disorderly conduct within the courthouse. He was also arrested for resisting arrest in the parking lot, as he refused to follow commands of police officers and struggled with them during the arrest. He was also booked into jail.

The sentencing hearing was adjourned for an hour and a half until court could safely reconvene. The delay resulted in another hour and a half delay to the next sentencing hearing, originally scheduled for Antonio Johnston, the other person convicted for his role in the deadly shooting. Both hearings remained peaceful in the afternoon.

Shooting at Maplewood Commons | May 2023

The backstory:

Eight felony charges have been filed against Parise Larry, 14, and Antonio Johnston, 17, in connection with a shooting in Fond du Lac on Sunday, May 7, 2023. Tatyanna Zech, 20, died as a result of the shooting. Two others were wounded.

The shooting left 20-year-old Tatyanna Zech dead. Two other people – a 49-year-old father and his 18-year-old son – were wounded. It happened at the Maplewood Commons near Martin Avenue and Pioneer Road.

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According to police, an investigation revealed the 49-year-old was sleeping upstairs in his apartment when a stray bullet entered, critically wounding him.

A witness told detectives that Larry and Johnston were hanging around the apartments like they were looking for someone and acting "suspicious," according to the complaint. The witness claimed Larry and Johnston had "beef" with one of the shooting victims. 

At one point, a group of people, including Zech, walked to the dumpsters to throw away garbage from a barbeque. That's when Larry and Johnston allegedly "popped out" from an apartment building and opened fire. The witness said "it was two guns being shot." The witness told detectives that everyone ran. Tatyanna Zech was struck by the gunfire. 

The medical examiner's report shows Tatyanna Zech died from a single gunshot wound to the head.

The complaint says "victim 2" and "victim 3" both received treatment for a single gunshot wound to the upper body and were later admitted into the Intensive Care Unit.

While processing the scene, officers located bullets fired into two separate apartments. Both apartments were occupied at the time of the shooting. 

Following the shooting, witnesses reported seeing three individuals flee the Maplewood Commons Apartment complex – and run to the north side of Theisen Middle School in the area of a dumpster. Officers searched the area and located two pistols in the dumpster.