Brandon Gladney, 39, will spend nearly three decades behind bars for the 2020 killing of his cousin outside a Milwaukee convenience store. On Friday, April 17, 2026, Judge Michelle Havas sentenced Gladney to 29 years in prison, followed by 14 years of extended supervision. Court records show he received credit for more than a year already served and was ordered to reimburse Milwaukee County for extradition costs.
Prosecutors had sought convictions for first-degree reckless homicide and possession of a firearm by a felon, according to FOX6 Milwaukee. The station reports that after years on the run, Gladney was tracked down and arrested in Arizona in January 2023. Court paperwork lists more than $1,800 in extradition expenses, a final logistical price tag for a case that began with a deadly confrontation in front of a neighborhood store.
Store camera captures deadly argument
Investigators said the shooting was caught on surveillance video outside the convenience store near 21st Street and Meinecke. Prosecutors told jurors the footage shows Gladney arguing with the victim, then coming back with a gun. “It’s all on video, and it’s devastating for that family,” a U.S. Marshal said in an interview cited by FOX6 Milwaukee. Multiple shell casings were recovered at the scene, and prosecutors said the victim later died at a nearby hospital.
Backlogged courts and a long road to sentencing
The gap between the May 2020 shooting and this week’s sentence reflects the wider strain on Milwaukee’s criminal courts. Reporting and data show the county’s felony backlog reached roughly 10,000 unresolved cases as of Oct. 13, 2025, a historic logjam that officials have tied to pandemic-era case growth and a rise in firearms prosecutions, according to Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service. Cases involving fugitives or work across multiple jurisdictions can drag on even longer.
Friday’s sentence marks the court’s final judgment in Gladney’s case. His extended-supervision term will follow the procedures set out under Wisconsin law. Officials with the Milwaukee County circuit court and the district attorney’s office did not offer further comment beyond what appears in the public record.
