Keith Brooks pleads not guilty to killing Anita Brooks
Keith Brooks
MILWAUKEE (WITI) -- Keith Brooks waived his right to a preliminary hearing and pleaded not guilty on Friday, February 8th to charges of first-degree intentional homicide and battery in the death of his wife, Anita.
Anita Brooks was shot and killed in an apartment near 35th and Highland on Milwaukee’s west side early on Sunday, January 27th. Police say the incident was a result of domestic violence.
The criminal complaint against Keith Brooks says on the morning of the alleged offense, he and his wife, Anita were having an argument. When he tried to leave the apartment, Keith Brooks told police Anita tried to stop him. He told police he “slapped her once to the face with an open hand and then pushed her down to the floor.”
The complaint indicates when Brooks then tried to leave the room again, he heard the sound of a click. Keith Brooks told police “he observed his wife holding her .380 caliber pistol in her right hand and that she was holding the firearm in front of her and looking down at it.” Brooks claims Anita then shot herself.
However, the medical examiner states in the criminal complaint that “the victim died as a result of this gunshot wound and that she did not die as a result of a suicide.” The doctor said this was based on the “location of the wound and the fact that there was no indication of any soot, stippling or tattooing that would be associated with a suicide.”
If convicted, Brooks faces up to life in prison. He's expected back in court on Friday, February 22nd.
A fund for the couple’s three-year-old daughter has been set up at Educator’s Credit Union under the name “Anita Brooks.”
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