Shooting outside Milwaukee store, man sentenced for 2024 homicide

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William Baskin

MILWAUKEE - A Milwaukee man was sentenced to prison on Thursday for a fatal shooting outside a convenience store that happened last year.

Court records show 47-year-old William Baskin Jr. was sentenced to 14 years in prison and nine years of extended supervision. He pleaded guilty in October to second-degree reckless homicide and possession of a firearm by a felon; he was previously charged with first-degree intentional homicide in the case.

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The shooting

The backstory:

The shooting happened around 3:30 p.m. on May 24, 2024. According to a criminal complaint, police found the victim lying on the sidewalk in front of a convenience store with an apparent gunshot wound. Despite life-saving attempts, the victim was pronounced dead at the scene near 16th and Locust. 

Prosecutors said surveillance video from the store showed the shooting take place under an awning that blocked the camera's view, but the shooter was seen walking to and from the shooting site in the seconds before and after the shooting. The complaint went on to state that the video showed, shortly before the shooting, the victim was hanging out with others on the sidewalk. A woman came from a house up the street and confronted him, and the two appeared to argue on the sidewalk.

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The woman left and returned to the house, per the complaint. Minutes later, a car arrived, and a passenger – identified as the shooter – got out of the car and went to the same house that the woman entered. The man came out of the house 32 seconds later and walked down the sidewalk directly toward the convenience store. He disappeared from camera view under the awning, and five seconds later he reappeared from under the awning – walking back toward the house that he came from, carrying a gun in his hand.

Police also spoke to an eyewitness. The complaint states the witness said before the shooting, the woman in the house next to the corner store confronted the victim about the victim "disrespecting her house/yard."

The complaint states the woman then returned to the house. A short time later, a car pulled up in front of that house, the woman’s "husband" got out, and the car drove off. The "husband" then went into the house. Moments later, the "husband" stepped out of the house carrying a gun. The "husband" walked up to the victim – said "Didn’t I tell y’all" – and shot the victim.

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Police were able to locate the driver of the car that dropped off the shooter. According to the complaint, the driver said he worked with the Baskin and gave him a ride home after work. He identified Baskin from a booking photo and watched portions of the convenience store video and identified his car dropping off Baskin.

Baskin gave two conflicting statements to detectives, per the complaint. He first denied being involved in the shooting, but then, in a second interview with detectives, changed the story and said he had shot the victim.

The complaint states Baskin said, days before the shooting, he found a gun outside his house and put it in the salt box on his porch because he is not allowed to have a gun. Baskin claimed that on the day of the shooting, he was on his porch and heard the victim jabbering. He went to see what the victim was jabbering about and took the gun with him. As he got close to the victim, Baskin said the victim swung his fist at him as if to punch him. Baskin said he raised the gun, and it accidentally discharged.

Baskin told police that after the shooting, he disassembled the gun and dispersed the parts in various places that he passed as he walked to 41st and Silver Spring.