38th and Good Hope murder; Milwaukee men sentenced in 2018 crime
Shooting near 38th and Hood Hope (May 18, 2018)
MILWAUKEE - Two Milwaukee men have been sentenced to a combined 55 years in prison for a 2018 murder on the city's north side.
Niyoktron Martin, 25, pleaded guilty to his murder charge in August 2019. He was later sentenced to 25 years in prison while already serving time for another shooting.
Later in 2019, prosecutors said, Martin implicated 21-year-old Javontae King in the crime. King, also charged with murder, was found guilty by a jury in May 2022. He has now been sentenced to 30 years behind bars.
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According to a criminal complaint, the shooting happened near 38th and Good Hope on May 18, 2018. Investigators found four spent .380 caliber bullet casings at the scene, and determined they were fired from the same gun.
The 25-year-old victim was found dead at the scene. An autopsy revealed he suffered three gunshot wounds, including one to the upper chest. His death was ruled a homicide.
Javontae King
The complaint states two teachers at a nearby school said they saw three men fighting in the parking lot of an apartment building near the school, and realized they wouldn't be able to take the children outside for recess. They said the men appeared to be fighting over a handgun – with two men punching and kicking the third man, who was on the ground.
The teachers said they heard multiple gunshots, per the complaint, and saw one of the assailants standing over the victim while holding a handgun. The two assailants then got into separate vehicles – one of which belonged to the victim – and left the scene. The victim's vehicle was later found abandoned near 60th and Fond du Lac.
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Investigators learned King's phone number was the last to have contact with the victim's phone before the homicide, according to the complaint. Additionally, King had contact with the victim 10 times, beginning the morning before the shooting, and, less than two minutes after the homicide, had called Martin.
Martin said King woke him up on the day of the shooting and asked him to help "in getting some money back" from someone. Martin said he rode with King and a third person from King's home to 38th and Good Hope.
Niyoktron Martin
When they arrived, Martin said he and King got out the vehicle, while the third person stayed inside. The victim was already there, standing alone in the parking lot, per the complaint, when Martin said he and King approached and King demanded money from the victim. The victim refused, and a fight ensued.
According to the complaint, Martin said he joined in the fight to help King, and at one point, he ended up on the ground with the victim. Martin said he saw King pull out a pistol. King then shot the victim twice at close range. Martin said he then got up and watched as King searched through the victim's pockets and clothing – taking keys, a cellphone, a wallet, and a silver handgun from the victim – before King shot the victim twice more.
Martin told investigators King gave him the handgun, but kept everything else. He said King used the keys to leave the parking lot in the victim's vehicle, the complaint said. Martin said he got back in the vehicle they arrived in and left with the third person who they arrived with.
Days later, Martin was arrested for a non-fatal shooting and attempted carjacking in Port Washington; it happened on May 20, 2018. The complaint states police recovered Martin's cellphone and his blood-stained pants. A gun was found in an apartment where Martin's co-defendant in the Port Washington shooting was arrested. That gun, investigators determined, had been bought by the 38th and Good Hope homicide victim in 2015.
Port Washington shooting (May 20, 2018)
Investigators used the telephone number provided by Martin when he was booked into jail to map the location of his phone at the time of the homicide. It was determined his phone was communicating with a tower less than a quarter-mile from the homicide scene one minute after it happened.
Meanwhile, at the Crime Lab, analysts determined the DNA from a partially smoked cigar recovered at the homicide scene matched Martin's, as did the DNA found on the blood stained pants recovered. Those pants also contained the DNA of the homicide victim.
Martin was granted credit for more than three years served and also sentenced to eight years of extended supervision. His prison sentence, court documents say, will run concurrent to an 18-year prison term for the Port Washington shooting.
King was granted credit for more than two years served and also sentenced to 15 years of extended supervision.