A 17-year-old Milwaukee boy who told police a passing car was about to “buss it down” before his gun accidentally fired has been sentenced to 12 years in prison for killing his 15-year-old girlfriend last September. Javier Smith was convicted of second-degree reckless homicide in the death of Azoria Jones, who was shot once near 76th and Silver Spring and later found bleeding out on a sidewalk.
Smith was sentenced to 12 years in prison followed by six years of extended supervision, according to FOX6 News Milwaukee, which cited information from the Milwaukee County District Attorney's Office and Wisconsin circuit court records. Witnesses near the scene on September 21 heard a shot and then saw a male running away, and Jones was later found on the sidewalk before she died. Smith was arrested two days later at his aunt's house.
According to the outlet's reporting, Smith initially denied shooting Jones at all and claimed someone else had fired the fatal shot. He later told investigators he thought someone in a passing car was about to “buss it down” — slang for opening fire — and said his gun discharged accidentally when he put it under his arm. Prosecutors said Smith changed his story multiple times, and he gave conflicting accounts of where he had put the gun afterward. He eventually admitted to shooting Jones and admitted to getting rid of the weapon.
Bus Camera Undercut the Teen's Account
Milwaukee County Transit System bus surveillance video captured the shooting itself, and according to the same report, that footage contradicted Smith's explanation of what happened. The bus camera did not show the car Smith described as the source of the threat that supposedly caused his gun to go off. After the shooting, Smith ran to his grandmother's house rather than staying with Jones or calling for help.
The case had moved through the courts for nearly a year before Smith's guilty plea and sentencing. He was originally charged with first-degree reckless homicide with a dangerous weapon, along with minor possession of a firearm, and Milwaukee County Court Commissioner Barry Phillips set his cash bail at $100,000 following his initial court appearance last September, according to WTMJ. First-degree reckless homicide carries up to 60 years in prison under Wisconsin law, while the second-degree charge Smith ultimately pleaded guilty to is a Class D felony carrying a maximum of 25 years, per Wisconsin statutes cited by Justia Law.
Prosecutors, Defense Clashed at Early Hearings
At those early hearings, Assistant District Attorney Gregg Herman told the court that Smith was walking down the street with Jones when she was shot once in the chest with enough force to kill her, the station reported. Defense attorney Christopher Donovan argued the shooting was accidental and noted Smith had no prior criminal record and had cooperated with police. Commissioner Phillips pushed back on that framing at the time, saying a person who accidentally shoots their girlfriend does not leave her side or flee the scene.
The criminal complaint also disclosed that Smith had pointed a firearm around Jones before, allegedly threatening her aunt with a pistol the previous month, according to WTMJ's report. Separately, court summary reporting circulated on Facebook described security camera footage from a nearby Express Pantry that showed Smith and Jones walking together earlier on the day of the shooting, with Smith wearing clothing matching witness descriptions of the shooter — evidence detectives used alongside the bus footage to build their timeline.
Part of a Rising Homicide Toll
Jones's death adds to a grim local pattern. Milwaukee recorded 142 homicides in 2025, an 8% increase from 132 the year before, bucking a national trend of declining homicides in major cities, per FOX6's separate reporting on citywide crime statistics. That came even as non-fatal shootings and carjackings in Milwaukee saw double-digit decreases over the same period.
Young people remain heavily represented on both sides of the city's homicide cases. A 2025 analysis by the Milwaukee Homicide Review Commission found that 57% of homicide suspects and 42% of homicide victims in Milwaukee were 29 or younger, with the large majority of victims knowing their killer, FOX6 reported. Separately, Wisconsin Watch found that 40 homicide victims in Milwaukee County were 17 or younger between January 2023 and October 2024, about 13% of all homicides countywide during that stretch.
