Milwaukee car fire, boy found dead; 5 people now sentenced

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Makai Kenith Neal

MILWAUKEE - All five people charged in connection with the death of 15-year-old Makai Neal, whose body was found after a Milwaukee car fire last year, have now been sentenced.

Five people sentenced

In court:

On Friday, mother and daughter Shatise and Shatianna Williams each pleaded guilty to one count of harboring/aiding a felon.

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Milwaukee County judge David Borowski then sentenced 41-year-old Shatise Williams to 15 months in prison with credit for nearly four months' time served, followed by 15 months of extended supervision.

Shatianna Williams, 23, was initially sentenced to a year in the Community Reintigration Center, but Borowski stayed that sentence and ordered her to serve two years' probation.

Keyshawn Barnett; DJ Chandler; Charles Roby; Shatianna Williams; Shatise Williams

Court records show 22-year-old Charles Roby pleaded guilty to first-degree reckless homicide and mutilating a corpse last year as part of a deal with prosecutors. He was sentenced to 32 years in prison and 17 years of extended supervision. 

DJ Chandler, 25, pleaded no contest to harboring/aiding a felon and guilty to a gun possession felony. He was sentenced in January to eight years in prison and six years of extended supervision.

And in February, 25-year-old Keyshawn Barnett pleaded guilty to harboring/aiding a felon. He was sentenced to one year in prison and one year of extended supervision.

Makai Neal killed

The backstory:

In February 2025, Milwaukee police said a gray Honda Accord had been set on fire near 26th and Locust. Neal was found dead inside the car.

The Milwaukee County assistant medical examiner determined Neal's cause of death was multiple gunshots, and the manner of death was homicide.

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Dig deeper:

Investigators said Roby and Chandler had been hanging out with Neal earlier that night when Roby accused Neal of stealing a gun from him and taking it from him.

According to a criminal complaint, Neal "began calling his cousin" to tell him what happened when Roby shot the boy. Prosecutors said the boy was yelling "to be taken to the hospital" when Roby drove off with Neal.

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Investigators said Roby called a friend. With Shatianna Williams and her mother, Shatise Williams, listening, he said "he had to finish [the victim] off" because he was afraid he would tell on him. The women were later seen buying a can of gas for Roby, according to police. 

A complaint said Barnett was present when Neal was shot, present when the defendants went to fill up the gas can and there when the car was torched. Chandler was also present.