MILWAUKEE, WI – A shooting that took place at a funeral home in Milwaukee on September 30th was said to have non-fatally injured seven victims between the ages of 20 to 48-years-old.
The Milwaukee Police Department has reportedly arrested a 29-year-old suspect alleged to be the man behind the funeral home shooting.
Milwaukee Police arrested a 29-year-old man in connection to a shooting outside of a funeral home Wednesday that injured seven people. https://t.co/Dlg6CGMkIW
— NBC15 News (@nbc15_madison) October 6, 2020
The attack took place at the Serenity Funeral Home, where mourners had gathered to pay their respects to 26-year-old Braxton Taylor, who was shot and killed earlier in September.
And then, numerous bullets began to strike the funeral home and surrounding limousines on September 30th, injuring seven attendees.
BREAKING NEWS: 7 people shot and injured at the Serenity Funeral Home on Fond Du Lac and 42nd. @MayorOfMKE says it was a drive by shooting. Unknown Suspect still at large All victims are expected to survive. LIVE reports at 4,4:30 on @tmj4 pic.twitter.com/K6P4fq130D
— Tom Durian (@TMJ4Tom) September 30, 2020
While the shooting didn’t result in any fatalities, Milwaukee County is reportedly on track to surpass 200 homicides this year – which would be the first time in the county’s history.
Unsettling milestones aside, police say that the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office is reviewing the case and will determine what charges the suspect will face.
A crowd of mourners was at Serenity Funeral Home to attend a funeral on Wednesday when a car pulled up and someone sprayed gunfire. https://t.co/OWMMokOi97
— Journal Sentinel (@journalsentinel) October 6, 2020
As for the murder of Braxton Taylor from September 17th, police are also still investigating that case and have not made any arrests of possible suspects.
Authorities have not yet released the name of the suspect in custody, but that information will likely be released once the DA’s office determines what charges will be brought forth.
Sadly, this isn’t the first time we at Law Enforcement Today have reported on cases linked to funeral home shootings. One case from 2018 in Georgia has resulted in an unexpected turn recently, as the man accused of slaying a child during a funeral has been granted bail.
Here’s that report again.
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SAVANNAH, GA – Back in February of 2018, a 12-year-old boy was fatally gunned down after some sort of altercation broke out during a funeral the boy was attending.
Police had arrested a then-15-year-old suspect for the murder and now, over two years after the murder, the alleged murderer was released on bond.
UPDATE: Deion Pinckney was arrested in 2018 for the fatal shooting of 12-year-old John Cooksey, Jr. According to Chatham Co. Sheriff’s Office, Pinckney was released on bond earlier this month and is now on an ankle monitor. https://t.co/4HnxSaEVqR
— Amanda Aguilar WTOC (@AAguilarTV) September 28, 2020
John Cooksey was attending a funeral on February 3rd, 2018 when the shooting happened at the Bonaventure Funeral Home.
Sadly, the young boy passed away days later from his sustained wounds while being treated at the hospital.
TRAGIC UPDATE: 12-year-old John Cooksey Jr. has died. https://t.co/ChN51mZvdJ
(Photo Credit: Todd Rhodes) pic.twitter.com/6EUvT7PAqq— WTGS (@WTGSFOX28) February 6, 2018
In July of 2018, a judge had denied bond for Deion Pinckney for the murder of Cooksey, who was 15 years old when the killing occurred and was 16 when sitting before the judge in July.
Chatham County Superior Court Judge John E. Morse Jr. had sided with Assistant District Attorney Matt Breedon’s noting that Pinckney danger to the community.
So – that should have been that, and rightly so. An accused murderer of a pre-teen boy that had his life taken while at a funeral will have to wait for his day in court while inside of jail.
However, earlier in September of this year, Pinckney (now 18) was granted bond, according to the Chatham County Sheriff’s Office.
Pinckney is now free to go about while wearing an ankle monitor. The family of the murder victim are justifiably devastated that Pinckney has been afforded bond.
Alisha Cooksey, the mother of the slain boy, says she’s ready to move on with the trial – which has not started as of yet:
“We’re just waiting for a trial date. We’re ready to go, and we’re just waiting on the date. I’m ready for this chapter to be closed.”
BREAKING: Savannah Police charge Deion Micah Pinckney, 15, with murder in the shooting death of 12-year-old John Cooksey Jr. @WSAV
— Darius Johnson (@DariusJohnsonTV) February 6, 2018
Chatham County Superior Court Judge Louisa Abbot was the one behind granting the bond for Pinckney, which was set at $10,000.
The prosecution reasonably objected to the motion to grant bond during the hearing, but it was a failed attempt.
Chatham County District Attorney Meg Heap spoke about the frustration associated with the granted bond:
“We were objecting because we had a 12-year-old who…that has been alleged to be murdered.”
The family of the victim was also against Pinckney being afforded bond, especially considering that he was ordered to be held years earlier.
Heap stated that the nature of the crime was the rationale for the prosecution objecting to bond being granted:
“This was a very heinous crime so we usually object. And if we don’t object, we’ve spoken to the victim and there is a very specific reason why we would not. In this case, we did object.”
However, Heap explained that whenever a bond hearing is scheduled, there’s hardly ever a slam-dunk instance that a defendant will be held without bond – even in cases involving murder:
“I would think it’s case specific , the judge has to hear the evidence… what we put up… and what the defense puts up and they have to make the decision.”
Considering that the case is headed to trial at some point, Heap couldn’t get into specifics about what it was that the defense brought forth to give the judge reason to consider bond – and such a low bond amount as well considering this is a murder case.
But what exact evidence could be introduced that would make a judge consider affording bond for such a slaying?
Outside of perhaps exculpatory evidence or some extreme mitigating circumstances – aside from the defendant’s age during the time of the crime – there’s not a lot of good reasoning to afford bond to accused murderers.
Furthermore, we’re dealing with a case where the victim hadn’t even reached their teen years and the accused was slightly over two years from being a legal adult.
To make matters all the more heinous – the alleged murderer was illegally carrying a firearm while at a funeral.
There’s something seriously awry with the bond being afforded in this case.
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