Milwaukee officers shot, Tremaine Jones trial: Live updates April 2

MILWAUKEE - Testimony continued Thursday in the trial of Tremaine Jones, the man accused of killing Milwaukee Police Officer Kendall Corder and wounding Officer Christopher McCray in a shooting last summer.  

FREE DOWNLOAD: Get breaking news alerts in the FOX LOCAL Mobile app for iOS or Android

Live updates | April 2, 2026

Clothing found during search

11:28 a.m.:

MPD Homicide Det. Casey Donahue testified that he was involved in the search of a home on 37th Street, where Jones and a Jermela Kittler, who is also charged in connection with the investigation, had been taken into custody. They were looking for items such as cellphones, weapons, ammunition or clothing that the shooting suspect was seen wearing on video.

In court, Donahue reviewed photos taken of evidence in that home. He testified that the evidence included a cellphone and items that included identifying information for Kittler. They also found clothing, which appeared to match what Jones was seen on video wearing on the night of the shooting.

The defense had no questions.

PHOTO GALLERY: Pool images from April 2, 2026

Tremaine Jones arrested

11:20 a.m.:

MPD Sgt. Anthony Milone, a former fugitive apprehension unit officer, took the stand. He said he was an officer with that unit when Corder and McCray were shot, and he testified he was asked to look for Jones.

Milone pointed to, described and identified Jones in court. He testified that he located and apprehended Jones. He said they found a connection between Jones and Jermela Kittler, who is also charged in connection with the investigation, and drove past her house. 

The sergeant testified that nobody, including Kittler, confirmed if Jones was there. They were granted consent to search the home, ordered everyone out of the house and called for Jones to come outside with his hands up. After roughly five minutes, Jones came outside and was taken into custody without incident.

Popcorn bag fingerprint

11:15 a.m.:

Matthew Maudlin, a latent print examiner for the Milwaukee Police Department. He said he was previously a forensic investigator and, before that, an officer.

The examiner testified that he identified a latent fingerprint for Jones on a bag of popcorn.

On cross-examination, Maudlin testified that he was unaware of how the popcorn bag was found. Defense Attorney Russell Jones said it was found in a backpack that also contained identifying information for Jones. 

Jones' fingerprint identified

10:59 a.m.:

The state called Chet St. Clair, a latent print examiner for the Milwaukee Police Department. He testified that a number of factors, such as the texture of the surface and the environment, can impact the usability of a fingerprint. 

St. Clair said he examined three fingerprints that a forensic investigator pulled from tape that was holding together two magazines for a rifle. A detective asked him to compare those with prints taken from Jones and Bryshawn Tyler, who is also charged in connection with the investigation. St. Clair testified that one print was a match for Jones, another was inconclusive, and the third was unusable for identification purposes.

On cross-examination, St. Clair testified that guns are, in many ways, resistant to fingerprints. He also said, for the prints that did not result in identification, it's not known if anyone else touched or shot the rifle.

Guns tested for fingerprints

10:36 a.m.:

Janel Vytlacil, an MPD forensic investigator, testified that she processes physical evidence from crime scenes.

Vytlacil described how she collects DNA and latent fingerprints, and she explained that just because someone touches something does not guarantee that a sufficient DNA sample or fingerprint can be pulled – environmental factors can disrupt that evidence.

The investigator testified that she analyzed a rifle and two handguns that were collected as evidence and processed them for DNA and fingerprints. She did not find any fingerprints on the weapons themselves. There was tape holding two magazines for the rifle together, and Vytlacil said she recovered three latent fingerprints from the tape.

The defense had no questions.

Photo lineup conducted

10:29 a.m.:

MPD Sgt. Curtis Pelczynski, a former homicide detective who investigated Corder's death, took the stand. He testified that he conducted a photo array with a witness, who the state called earlier Thursday. 

Pelczynski said he explained to the witness that they were trying to identify a person who had a "black rifle-pistol" near 25th and Garfield on the night of the shooting. He testified that the witness identified Jones from the photo lineup.

The defense had no questions.

Witness identifies Jones

8:52 a.m.:

The state's first witness Thursday testified that he was living near 25th and Garfield when the shooting happened. He did not know Jones by name but identified him based on what he was wearing in court. During his testimony, he later said he identified Jones to police from a photo lineup.

The witness said he was outside and saw an argument and a fight between "girls" in the street the day before the shooting. He also testified that there was another altercation on the night the police were called, June 26, 2025. He said the second altercation "played out how it did the first time," and he took video that day. 

The witness testified one of the people in his video had a handgun, but the witness did not know who that person was. Later, he said Jones showed up with a rifle. He said Jones yelled for people to come out of an apartment building and shot into the air a few times. He said someone inside an apartment building later returned fire, and everyone scattered. The witness said he followed because he was "curious."

When shown another video, the witness testified that a person seen with a backpack, ski mask and rifle was Jones. In another video, the witness identified himself in video that showed him following that person in an alley. He testified that Jones "stayed posted" in the alley near some cars and bushes, and the witness walked away. 

The witness said he later saw two police officers come to the area. When they got to the alley, "a lot" of shots went off. He said one officer hit the ground, and the other ran but came back "to help his partner." The witness said the shots came from the bushes. The witness also said he approached to see if the officer needed help, and the partner told him to get back. 

The witness testified that he went home after that, but saw Jones again later that night. He said Jones mentioned he "thought it was somebody else," and the witness told Jones it was "cops." Jones said he was missing his bag, according to the witness. 

On cross-examination, the defense pressed the witness about where he was and what he saw that night – asking why he kept filming instead of going inside, leaving the area or calling police at any point. The witness said he did not know Jones or any of the people involved in the altercation, but had seen them around the apartment building and decided to start following Jones around after shots were fired. 

The witness, as cross-examination continued, testified that he was down the alley when police arrived and the shooting took place. Several minutes had passed since he last saw Jones, and he also said he did not see who pulled the trigger. He said, as he was heading home after it happened, he saw Jones cutting through yards and that Jones did not have the backpack or the rifle anymore.

On redirect, the witness confirmed that the last place he saw Jones with the rifle and backpack before the shooting was near the cars and bushes in the alley. He also said he never saw anyone else in that location, never saw anyone else with that backpack and never saw anyone else with that rifle.

The defense re-crossed the witness. He testified that he told Jones he would look around to see if cops were coming, because he said he didn't want anyone to get in trouble. The witness said he never spoke to Jones again because they'd been separated for several minutes by the time the shooting happened.

Wednesday recap:

McCray's testimony highlighted Wednesday's testimony. He became emotional on the stand as the state played video from his body-worn camera on the night of the shooting. The jury later saw video from Corder's bodycam.

Other witnesses included people who called 911 to report a man in the street with a gun before the officers were shot. One of those witnesses stood up and pointed to Jones in court.

A woman who previously dated Jones, as well as several Milwaukee police detectives, also testified.

The shooting

The backstory:

Milwaukee Police Officers Kendall Corder and Christopher McCray were shot near 25th and Garfield on the night of June 26, 2025. They were initially called for a report of a person with a weapon, which was upgraded to shots fired while they were on the way.

When they arrived and stepped out of their squad, they were unexpectedly shot in an alley. Assistant Police Chief Nicole Waldner noted the officers were unable to return fire. Milwaukee Police Association President Alexander Ayala described it as "an ambush."

Corder dropped to the ground, and McCray – who had been shot in the foot, leg and back – ran to grab Corder's firearm and protect him, according to a criminal complaint. Backup officers and a tactical team arrived shortly after the shooting.

The two officers were taken to Froedtert Hospital, a Level I Trauma Center. McCray was released from the hospital days later, while Corder died of his wounds on June 29. Court filings said Corder suffered three gunshot wounds, one of which severed his spine.

SIGN UP TODAY: Get daily headlines, breaking news emails from FOX6 News

Dig deeper:

Prosecutors said there were fights between groups of women over Jones and allegations of cheating. While at an apartment building before officers arrived, Jones fired shots into the air. The officers arrived a short time later.

McCray said he and Corder were walking down an alley when he saw a flash coming from some bushes and heard a bang that "sounded like a firework," according to the complaint. More flashes and bangs, which were gunshots, followed. 

Court filings said police recovered 16 total rifle cartridge casings at the scene "consistent with the shots being fired from the bushes" as McCray described. They later recovered a rifle along a fence line that the Milwaukee Police Department Fusion Center later determined was "consistent" with being the gun that fired all 16 rounds. Forensic investigators pulled a latent fingerprint, identified as Jones', from the weapon.

The complaint said police also found a social security card, birth certificate and several debit cards with Jones' name on them inside a backpack in a nearby backyard. There was a receipt from a West Allis gun shop that showed Jones bought a gun on June 17 and picked it up on June 19.

Jones was arrested the morning after the shooting at a home near 37th and Villard. A witness said Jones did not know he was shooting at the police and "thought it was someone else," according to court filings. The witness said Jones also said he had "better get out of there" because he had "just killed a cop."

Complete coverage

Dig deeper:

FOX6 News has followed the case from the time of the shooting to the trial. Read and watch more coverage below at the links below:

• April 1: Officer McCray testifies, bodycam footage played in court
• March 31: Officers, detectives testimony covers scene response, evidence
• Tremaine Jones trial: Jury selection begins for man accused of shooting Milwaukee police officers
• Milwaukee Police Officer Kendall Corder laid to rest, loved ones say goodbye
• Milwaukee police officers shot, Tremaine Jones charged
• Remembering Milwaukee police officers who died in the line of duty