Milwaukee boy kidnapped; teen pleads guilty, sentenced to prison
Milwaukee boy kidnapped; teen convicted and sentenced to prison
A judge sentenced a teenage boy to ten years in prison for his involvement in the 2025 kidnapping of a boy, in an attempt to collect ransom money from the boy’s suspected drug-dealing mother, and decried the generational cycles of violence involved in the case.
MILWAUKEE - A judge sentenced a teenage boy to ten years in prison for his involvement in the 2025 kidnapping of a boy, in an attempt to collect ransom money from the boy’s suspected drug-dealing mother, and decried the generational cycles of violence involved in the case.
Case details
The backstory:
Barry Coleman, 15, pleaded guilty to robbery and a gun charge; prosecutors dismissed a kidnapping and second gun charge as a part of the plea deal.
"I got high off drugs and got into a car with two men who I thought was positive figures in my life," Coleman told the court. "Next, we drove to the house of the younger child and I took him away, as he was yelling for me not to take him away from his family."
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The then-14-year-old orchestrated the kidnapping, along with two other older men, of a 7-year-old boy from outside the boy’s home near 62nd and Hustis in July 2025, and held the boy at a home miles away. Prosecutors say the trio initially planned to rob the boy’s mother, who Coleman described as a "big-time drug dealer." She was charged this summer with cocaine and fentanyl possession, accused of running a large-scale drug trafficking operation.
Milwaukee boy kidnapped; teen charged as adult in summer case
Prosecutors say 14-year-old Barry Coleman orchestrated a July kidnapping that triggered an AMBER Alert in Milwaukee and is now being charged as an adult after the child was found unharmed.
Sentencing
What To Know:
"Did you honestly think you were going to get $100,000 from some person?" Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge David Borowski asked Coleman Friday morning.
"To be honest," Coleman said, "I never really thought about the amount of money."
Barry Coleman
Coleman was adjudicated delinquent in a 2023 heroin case, leading to the kidnapping case charged in adult court.
"The criminality that you were exposed to is now just part of the cycle. You've exposed this child to criminality, you're traumatized a 7-year-old," Borowski said. "I'm sure a normal 7-year-old kid has nightmares. This kid was actually taken at gunpoint."
It was clear throughout the sentencing hearing that Borowski struggled with how to sentence a child on charges rarely seen brought against children – let alone waived into adult court for prosecution.
"How is it possible you’re running streets, you're using Percocets, you're drinking lean, you're using alcohol — possibly other illicit or controlled substances. How is that possible?" asked Borowski.
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Barry Coleman in front of Judge Borowski
"My mom, she was at work most of the time, because my father was not present," Coleman replied. "So my mom was doing things to make sure that me and my little brother had certain things, and was able to provide for us."
Coleman’s father is awaiting trial for the 2023 death of a 10-month-old from a fentanyl overdose.
"He's been in prison, was he out of your life? Yes," said Borowski. "It should be noted, for the record, that this defendant's father is being prosecuted for a child neglect homicide – in front of me. If that's not stunning and a wakeup call, then I don't know what should be."
The cases against the two other adult co-defendants in the kidnapping case are still pending, with the trial for one of the men set for December.
The Source: Information in this report comes from the criminal complaint, court records, and prior reporting.