A grim case that started with a burned car on Milwaukee's north side has now ended in a sentencing courtroom. All five people charged in the killing of 15-year-old Makai Neal have been sentenced, with the admitted shooter, Charles Roby, receiving the stiffest penalty: 32 years in prison plus 17 years of extended supervision.
Sentences Handed Down This Week
Milwaukee County Judge David Borowski this week imposed a mix of prison and probation terms on the defendants tied to Neal's death. Roby pleaded guilty to first-degree reckless homicide and mutilating a corpse and was sentenced to 32 years in prison and 17 years of extended supervision. Prosecutors said his role was central, and the judge clearly agreed.
Two other defendants, a mother and daughter, received shorter terms. Forty-one-year-old Shatise Williams was sentenced to 15 months in prison, with credit for nearly four months already served, followed by 15 months of extended supervision. Her 23-year-old daughter, Shatianna Williams, had a Community Reentry Center term stayed and was ordered to two years of probation.
Two men had already been sentenced earlier in the year. In January, DJ Chandler was given eight years in prison plus six years of extended supervision after entering a no-contest plea to harboring or aiding a felon and a felony weapons charge. In February, Keyshawn Barnett received one year in prison and one year of extended supervision following a guilty plea, according to FOX6.
How Authorities Say It Unfolded
According to the criminal complaint filed in Milwaukee County Circuit Court, the case began on Feb. 10, 2025, when firefighters responded to a vehicle fire behind 2956 N. 26th Street. They found a gray Honda Accord engulfed in flames, with a badly burned body in the front passenger seat.
The Milwaukee County assistant medical examiner later determined the victim had suffered multiple gunshot wounds and ruled the death a homicide, according to the court filing. The burned vehicle scene, it turned out, was not an accident but the aftermath of a killing.
Investigation Tied the Group to the Car
Investigators say the case started to come together through an anonymous tip, cellphone records and store surveillance footage. Those pieces of evidence helped place Neal and the defendants together on the night of the shooting. Prosecutors allege that at some point, Roby accused Neal of stealing a handgun before shots were fired, as detailed by Media Milwaukee.
Local reporting describes search warrants that turned up shell casings and a 9mm handgun that prosecutors say had an aftermarket conversion device. According to court filings and reporting, prosecutors say the group then doused the stolen Accord with gasoline and set it on fire in what they describe as an attempt to destroy evidence.
Judge and Family Reaction at Sentencing
During sentencing, prosecutors pushed for lengthy prison terms, pointing to the brutality of the crime. Letters from Neal's family, read into the record, described both the depth of their loss and what they called the cruelty of the killing. Judge Borowski read one passage that called the manner of Makai's death "abrupt, violent and entirely preventable," according to Media Milwaukee.
Defense attorneys pointed to their clients' cooperation and other mitigating factors, arguing that some defendants played lesser roles and were trying to move their lives in a different direction. In the end, the court said the seriousness of the crime, along with Roby's record in particular, justified substantial prison time.
Aftermath and Context
With sentences now imposed on all five defendants, prosecutors say the criminal side of the case is largely wrapped up, even as some investigative questions linger. The public first learned of the case in February 2025, when police announced multiple arrests and filed initial charges following the discovery of the burned vehicle, as previously reported by CBS58.
For Neal's family, the end of the courtroom proceedings does not come close to filling the void left by a 15-year-old whose life, a judge said, never should have been cut short in the first place.
