Milwaukee homicide: Teen sentenced in shooting of 12-year-old boy
Fatal shooting near 48th and Center, Milwaukee
MILWAUKEE - Deondre Davis, the Milwaukee teen charged in a shooting that killed a 12-year-old boy in October 2024, appeared in court on Wednesday, July 16 for a plea and sentencing hearing.
Online court records indicate Davis pleaded guilty to a charge of second-degree reckless homicide. A charge of possession of a dangerous weapon was dismissed but read into the court record for the purposes of sentencing.
After the plea was entered, a Milwaukee County judge sentenced Davis to seven years in prison and eight years of extended supervision.
Case details
The backstory:
Police were called to the scene near 48th and Center around 1:40 p.m. on Oct. 26, 2024. According to a criminal complaint, officers arrived to find the 12-year-old victim unresponsive inside a minivan. He was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Prosecutors said a witness at the scene told detectives Davis and the victim, among other people, were in the minivan when the shooting took place. The witness said they saw Davis pointing a gun at the victim, and the victim told Davis to stop playing with the gun. Davis allegedly replied "say I won't, say I won't" and then the gun went off.
Shooting scene near 48th and Center
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Police found Davis at a nearby home and took him into custody. During an interview with detectives, the complaint states Davis said he believed he put the safety on and then began to point the gun at the victim. That's when the gun went off and the victim was shot. Davis also claimed it was a normal occurrence for them to point guns at each other.
During the investigation, detectives learned the minivan where the victim was found had been reported stolen two days earlier. The front passenger window was broken, and the steering column was damaged with the ignition dangling from the column.
Prosecutors said no gun was recovered, and no spent bullet casings were located.
The Source: Information in this report came from the Milwaukee County District Attorney's Office and Wisconsin Circuit Court.