A Milwaukee woman will spend more than two decades behind bars for a deadly shooting tied to a dispute over money, after a judge on Friday handed down a 22-year prison sentence in the July 2025 killing of Dennis Carter near 21st Street and McKinley Avenue. The court also ordered eight years of extended supervision, credited her with 348 days already served, and assessed more than $12,000 in restitution.
According to FOX6 News Milwaukee, 53-year-old Tammy Goodman pleaded guilty to first-degree reckless homicide. As part of a plea deal, the state’s dangerous-weapon enhancer was dismissed, while a firearm-possession count was dismissed and read in for sentencing. FOX6 News Milwaukee reports that on June 26, 2026, the judge imposed the 22-year prison term, followed by eight years of extended supervision, and granted Goodman 348 days of jail credit.
Shooting and arrest
Police were called to the area of 21st and McKinley on the evening of July 13, 2025, for a reported shooting. Officers found Dennis Carter suffering from gunshot wounds, and he was pronounced dead at the scene. The Milwaukee County Medical Examiner later determined his cause of death to be multiple gunshot wounds, according to TMJ4. Investigators recovered a 9mm casing and other evidence at the scene, the station reports.
Court documents reviewed by FOX6 News Milwaukee state that Goodman was arrested the next day, July 14, after a traffic stop. In a recorded phone call the morning after the homicide, she allegedly told someone that Carter was “full of lead” and described how she had “popped his [expletive].” The complaint also notes that investigators seized Goodman’s phone and used call records as part of their investigation.
What the records show
According to the criminal complaint, witnesses told police that Goodman and Carter had argued the night before the shooting about rent money. The filings state that Goodman later walked up to Carter as he reached into his car and, according to the complaint, shot him twice before leaving the area. The documents describe an SUV with blood inside and say that a woman who knew Goodman initially identified Carter as a friend who lived at a nearby rooming house.
Legal context
Under Wisconsin law, first-degree reckless homicide requires prosecutors to show that a defendant recklessly caused someone’s death under circumstances that demonstrate “utter disregard for human life.” As explained by the Wisconsin State Law Library, the crime is a Class B felony, which can translate into decades in prison plus extended supervision after release. That standard helps explain why prosecutors pursued the most serious reckless-homicide charge and why the plea agreement still resulted in a multi-decade sentence instead of a lesser count.
The sentence came nearly a year after the July 2025 shooting, following plea negotiations that allowed the case to be resolved without a trial. Anyone with additional information about the case is asked to contact Milwaukee Police at (414) 935-7360 or Crime Stoppers, according to TMJ4.
