A Milwaukee teen has been ordered to spend 25 years in prison for his role in a late-night street shooting that turned a planned fight into a deadly barrage of gunfire, killing 15-year-old Davion Patterson and wounding five others. Judge John Franke handed down the sentence on Jan. 23 and tacked on 20 additional years of extended supervision. The gunfire broke out near North 15th Street and Concordia Avenue in March 2023 as crowds gathered, ending with Patterson hit multiple times, as reported by Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
The punishment followed a jury verdict last month that found 18-year-old Romello Littlejohn guilty of first-degree reckless homicide as a party to a crime, along with related felonies, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Prosecutors told the court they plan to seek roughly $5,300 to cover Patterson’s funeral expenses, with a restitution hearing set for Feb. 19. Littlejohn told the judge he "didn't intend to shoot" and said he had been intoxicated, the paper reported.
Scene And Evidence
The shooting unfolded around 11:30 p.m. on March 20, 2023, after people gathered for what was described as a planned fight. Investigators later counted about 30 spent shell casings scattered across the street, according to CBS 58. Patterson was shot multiple times and did not survive. Five women between the ages of 18 and 22 were also hit and treated for non-fatal injuries.
Witnesses and bystanders captured the chaos on cellphone video, footage that prosecutors leaned on during trial to walk jurors through the hail of bullets that tore through the crowd.
Trial, Verdict And Defense
In December, a Milwaukee County jury convicted Littlejohn on charges that included first-degree reckless homicide and several reckless injury counts, and the court set sentencing for Jan. 23, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.
Defense attorneys argued during trial that none of the bullets that killed Patterson were forensically matched to Littlejohn’s gun. Prosecutors countered that another firearm was recovered at the scene, although no other person has been charged. Shooting survivors who took the stand described being hit and recalled the panic that erupted as shots rang out.
Family Reaction And Next Steps
Patterson’s family and neighbors say the killing has left a hole in their community. His mother told reporters he had been trying to break up the fight when he was shot, according to WISN.
With decades of prison time, a long stretch of supervision ordered by the judge, and a restitution hearing still on the calendar, the case is not fading quietly. The court will next weigh the financial fallout of the shooting while Patterson’s relatives continue to press for answers about how a neighborhood fight escalated into a deadly volley of gunfire.
