Milwaukee man pleads guilty to felony murder, sentenced to prison

MILWAUKEE - A Milwaukee man who pleaded guilty to felony murder in the killing of another man on the city's south side back in 2025 was sentenced to prison.

Guilty plea and sentencing

What we know:

53-year-old Jonathan Caravello pleaded guilty to the felony murder charge back in May 2026. 

According to court records, on Thursday, May 7, 2026, during a plea hearing, he pleaded guilty to an amended charge of felony murder. He was originally charged with 2nd-degree reckless homicide.

On Thursday, June 25, he was sentenced to eight years in prison and seven years of extended supervision, with 416 days credit.

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Battery complaint investigated | May 2025

The backstory:

According to the criminal complaint, Milwaukee police responded on Monday, May 5 to the area near 37th and Orchard for a battery complaint. When officers arrived on the scene, they found a man lying on the pavement in an alley; he was unconscious and not breathing. Firefighters arrived on the scene and provided medical assistance, but the man was declared deceased.

Investigators learned the victim had been in an altercation with a person living across the alley from him. That person was later identified as the defendant, Jonathan Caravello.

Detectives spoke with a woman who indicated Caravello invited her over to his house and were in the backyard when the victim came over. Caravello told the woman "that the person who came over tries to sell things to Caravello's father so that the person can buy drugs," the complaint says. When the victim returned, the woman told detectives he and Caravello began fighting in the alley. During this time, the complaint says Caravello "got the person in a choke hold." He also "got a wooden bat and threw it at the person" and got him back in a choke hold one more time. The woman said "she and Caravello returned to his backyard and she went back into the alley and saw that the person was still on the ground," the complaint says.

Police recovered video that recorded the interactions between Caravello and the victim. The video records "Caravello on top of (the victim) and (the victim) can be heard saying, it appears, 'You won.' During the fight, Caravello repeated yells that he is going to kill (the victim). Caravello eventually gets off of (the victim) and (the victim) is not seen moving again," the complaint says.

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Caravello questioned

What they're saying:

When police questioned Caravello, he said that he got into a tussle with the victim — and that the victim "had a small folding knife that cut him," the complaint says. During that tussle, Caravello said he began to choke the victim and he "stopped the choke hold when he got tired."

The complaint says Caravello "admitted telling (the victim) that he was going to kill him, but he said this only after (the victim) said he was going to shoot him. He never saw a gun."

Crime and Public SafetyNewsMilwaukee