2020 Milwaukee fatal crash, 'Most Wanted' driver guilty at trial

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Jerry Anderson Jr.; I-43 crash scene

MILWAUKEE - A Milwaukee man previously profiled on "Wisconsin's Most Wanted" was found guilty at trial on Thursday for a 2020 wrong-way crash that killed two people.

In Court:

Jerry Anderson Jr., 35, was charged with two counts of first-degree reckless homicide and five other felonies. A jury convicted Anderson on all seven counts. He is scheduled to be sentenced in May.

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Crash on I-43

The backstory:

In June 2020, authorities responded to a wrong-way, head-on crash on I-43 northbound near Chase Avenue in Milwaukee. Investigators later learned it was the result of an intentional act.

Court filings state Anderson told police he meant to drive the wrong way on the freeway. One of Anderson's passengers was killed. It also killed 24-year-old Rhode Molina and injured a person in Molina's vehicle.

What they're saying:

According to a criminal complaint, Anderson's explanation was as follows:

"...shortly before the crash incident, in the area of 11th and Rogers Streets, a car that he is not familiar with, occupied by an unknown person or persons, began following his car for unknown reasons. He sped up and made turns to lose the car, but it kept following him. At one point the car made contact with the rear of his car and spun his car around. These actions of the other car caused him to believe that the occupant or occupants of the other car were trying to kill him."

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Anderson went on to say:

"…in an effort to lose the car that was following him, he decided to purposely get onto the freeway in the wrong direction, thinking that the car following him would not dare do the same. He said he has little memory of what happened after he got on the freeway."