Prosecutors have charged Jahree Wilkes after a Milwaukee driver was killed in a hail of gunfire that ripped through his car in the Sherman Park neighborhood. The victim, identified by authorities as 26-year-old Mark Burrell, was found dead inside a gray Toyota. According to police, preliminary video evidence suggests the shooter fired roughly 60 shots at the vehicle.
Police, Witnesses Describe Car Riddled With Bullets
According to a criminal complaint, the shooting took place on Dec. 29 on the 2800 block of North 59th Street in Sherman Park, where investigators found the Toyota torn up by gunfire. Officers counted 48 bullet strikes, and prosecutors say recovered video shows at least 60 rounds were fired toward the car. Prosecutors say those findings led them to charge Wilkes with first-degree reckless homicide as a party to the crime, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Wilkes Denies Pulling Trigger As Investigators Cite Burned Car
The complaint states investigators documented "48 bullet holes in the car," and that Wilkes told police he was the driver while a passenger directed him to cruise around the city’s north side. Wilkes denies he was the shooter, according to the complaint, and prosecutors allege he and another person later tried to destroy their vehicle by setting it on fire. Police say they relied on video footage and neighbors' accounts to track down and arrest Wilkes a couple of weeks after the shooting, as reported by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
How Wisconsin’s Party-To-Crime Law Comes Into Play
Wilkes is charged as a "party to the crime," a legal theory in Wisconsin that allows prosecutors to hold someone criminally responsible even if they did not personally pull the trigger. First-degree reckless homicide, defined under Wisconsin law as recklessly causing a death in circumstances showing "utter disregard for human life" (see Wis. Stat. § 940.02 via Justia), is a Class B felony. Party-to-crime liability is outlined in Wis. Stat. § 939.05, as summarized by FindLaw. Those charges will be addressed in Milwaukee County’s criminal courts as the case moves forward.
