A 34-year-old Milwaukee man is facing first-degree reckless homicide and child neglect charges after his girlfriend's 3-year-old son died from severe abdominal injuries at a home near 29th Street and Concordia Avenue. Marcus Glenn Jenkins is accused of causing the death of Da'Quarius Berry, who was found unresponsive on November 6, 2025, according to a criminal complaint.
Da'Quarius suffered blunt-force trauma and had a transected duodenum and torn mesentery, per the autopsy, along with more than 350 milliliters of blood in his abdomen, the criminal complaint states. As reported by WISN, doctors were unable to save the boy despite emergency treatment. Separately, Law & Crime reports that emergency personnel responded to a 911 call from the boy's mother at her home on the 3200 block of North 29th Street, and that medical staff at Children's Wisconsin worked for nearly an hour before declaring him dead at 8:41 a.m.
Jenkins told investigators he later woke up and found Da'Quarius in distress, according to his own account described in the complaint. He said he had been home alone with the boy after the child's mother, Zaquitta Joiner-Murphy, left to take her other children to school. Jenkins has had an arrest warrant issued in connection with the boy's death, and the case remains pending additional testing to determine the official cause and manner of death.
Mother's Neglect Charge Came First
Joiner-Murphy was previously charged with neglecting a child resulting in death, and court records show she initially told investigators an upstairs neighbor was watching her children while she worked an overnight shift at a bar. Police determined the neighbor was not actually present, according to CBS 58, leaving Jenkins as the only adult in the home overnight. The same complaint indicates that five children were left home alone for several hours earlier that night before Joiner-Murphy returned.
Reports said Joiner-Murphy left five children home alone overnight and briefly left the home again afterward to drop the older children at a school bus stop, per the station's report. Joiner-Murphy made her initial court appearance, and Milwaukee County court officials set her cash bail at $50,000 following her arrest.
Criminal Complaint Cited 'Utter Disregard for Human Life'
The criminal complaint described a large abdominal hemorrhage resulting from non-accidental trauma, which investigators cited as demonstrating what they called complete and utter disregard for human life. The outlet noted that the final cause and manner of death remained pending additional testing.
Milwaukee police investigated the child's death.
What Jenkins and Joiner-Murphy Now Face
Under Wisconsin Statute ยง 940.02(1), first-degree reckless homicide is a Class B felony carrying a maximum penalty of up to 60 years in prison, split between as much as 40 years of initial confinement and 20 years of extended supervision. To secure a conviction on that charge, prosecutors must demonstrate utter disregard for human life.
Jenkins faces child-neglect charges, while Joiner-Murphy was previously charged with neglect resulting in death.
Open questions remain in the case, including whether Joiner-Murphy's charges will be amended and what the Milwaukee County Medical Examiner's Office ultimately determines in its final autopsy findings, since the cause and manner of Da'Quarius's death remain pending additional testing.
