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Lantern Project: Since October 2013, Hope House has joined with other domestic violence programs around the state by implementing the Lantern Project. For our part in this statewide project, we added to the lamppost in front of Hope House a purple wreath. We will turn on the light for a week every time there is a death related to domestic violence in Wisconsin. We will post information online about the person(s) that was killed. If you drive by our building and see our lamppost on, please reflect on the deadly impact that domestic violence has on our communities. We know the list of stories we post here is incomplete. We strive to learn about and share these stories but know that there are some that we and the media miss. If you see a news story of a death in WI related to domestic violence and don't see it posted here, please feel free to let us know about it here. Thank you. May 1st, 2020: Laura M. McMillan, Age 56 A couple’s death on Washington Road in the Township of Ahnapee north of Algoma has been initially considered a murder-suicide by the Kewaunee County Sheriff’s Department. According to the news release on Monday evening, 71-year-old Dennis A. McMillan apparently shot Laura McMillan, 56, multiple times at their home before turning the gun on himself. The Kewaunee County Sheriff’s Department was called to the residence for a welfare check last Friday. Upon arriving at the home, sheriff deputies observed two bodies on the floor through a window after no one came to the door. The incident remains under investigation with the Wisconsin Department of Criminal Investigation assisting the Kewaunee County Sheriff’s Department. No other details are available at this time. May 4th, 2020: unnamed man and woman Brown County sheriff’s deputies are investigating the deaths of two people in Allouez as a murder-suicide. Investigators say they were called to the 3200 block of S. Webster Ave. just after 4:30 p.m. Monday to check on the people who lived there. The caller reported seeing what appeared to be blood and said the doors were locked. Deputies went into the house and found a male and female dead. After they got a warrant, deputies collected evidence and documented the scene. They cleared the scene Tuesday morning. Initial investigation points to a murder-suicide, deputies say. Autopsies are scheduled for Tuesday. Names of the people involved have not been released. The Brown County Sheriff’s Office says the public is not in danger and no suspects are being sought.  May 5th, 2020: Cathy King, Age 48 Shot to death outside her workplace by a persistent ex-boyfriend, Cathy King wasn’t supposed to leave the Earth this way. She had people to care for: her three children, two grandchildren and a host of friends and extended family members. Checking up on loved ones was her specialty. “Her heart was not a normal size. It was huge,” niece Taee Oliver said Wednesday at a vigil outside a north side Walgreens, where police say a 51-year-old man shot and killed King, 48, Tuesday afternoon. “This wasn’t supposed to happen, not to her,” Oliver said. King was a pharmacy technician at the store, 2727 W. North Ave., her family said. Walgreens employees, friends and family members gathered Wednesday evening in the store parking lot to release balloons and pay their respects. “We love you Ms. Cathy,” read a hand-lettered sign tacked above a small memorial arranged along the store’s brick wall. Pasted to the sign was a selfie: King with her fellow pharmacy employees, smiling behind masks. During a global pandemic, King was an essential worker. She continued to serve the sick in a neighborhood hit hard by the coronavirus, her family said. “You can see that she touched a lot of hearts,” cousin Ragen Stowers said, looking out at the gathered crowd of about 40. Stowers described King as “free-hearted,” and other family members echoed the sentiment. She gave her love to everyone and helped anyone who needed it, Oliver said. “It don’t get no better than her as an aunt, as a mom, as a grandma, as a sister,” Oliver said. “Whatever it was, she was the best at it.” A day after King’s death, it’s hard for her sister Sylvia Washington to talk about the woman she’s known for 48 years. “Cathy was a very good, sweet lady,” Washington said. The two sisters enjoyed a calm Tuesday morning together, drinking coffee, watching TV and chatting. Washington saw her off to work in the early afternoon. She had no idea King would never return. Cathy and the man who shot her had not been in a relationship for months, Washington said. “He was not understanding that. No means no. Move on means move on,” she said. A memorial is set up outside the Walgreens store for worker Cathy King, who was shot and killed Tuesday outside the store. The suspect in the homicide had been in a relationship with King, police said. In the crowd of people who loved King were two women who didn’t know her personally: Laverne Badger and Natalie Hayden. They’re domestic violence survivors and advocates who work to support women after abuse. The recent slew of domestic violence cases in Milwaukee is discouraging, Badger said. “Because it happens so often it almost feels like, are we doing enough? And what we are doing — is it really making an impact?” she said. A sense of urgency around domestic violence is “long overdue,” said Reggie Moore, director of the Office of Violence Prevention. Prompted by recent cases, advocates in Milwaukee are taking new steps toward addressing it, he said. And in the fight against domestic violence, it’s important to remember it’s not just a women’s issue, Moore said. “This is a community issue, and the burden of addressing this issue is on men,” he said. “Violence against women and girls is unacceptable. And until more men step up and adhere to that message and share that message and hold each other accountable to that message, this is going to continue,” Moore said. Change didn’t come soon enough for King. Among the flower bouquets and candles surrounding a framed photo of King were two “Happy Mother’s Day” balloons. King died five days short of the holiday. For those who knew her, the day holds a more painful meaning this year. They’ll be without King, a woman who spread motherly love everywhere she went. May 6th, 2020: Man dies from self-inflicted gunshot wound
A man in his 30s died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in a parking lot near Green Bay Road and Brown Deer Road in Brown Deer Wednesday morning, May 6 following a police pursuit. Death investigation underway near Green Bay Road and Deerwood Drive in Brown Deer Brown Deer police initiated a “high-risk stop” of a suspect of a domestic violence incident. They say the man drove from the scene at a home in Brown Deer at about 3:30 a.m. Wednesday. Officials say the man died by his own hand with a gun in parking lot of a shopping center north of Brown Deer Road on N. Green Bay Road, according to Brown Deer Police Community Outreach Officer Fernando Santiago. “Officers spotted the vehicle driving away from the location of the incident, they initiated a pursuit, very short pursuit, the vehicle ended up stopping near North Deerwood Drive and Green Bay Road,” Santiago said. Dealing with more domestic violence calls than usual… “We’re trying to do our job to make sure people are aware that extended periods at home create, obviously, other challenges between family members — and that there is some things they could do. There’s resources out there,” Santiago said. Investigators from several agencies are looking into this incident — including the U.S. Marshals.
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Lantern Project: Since October 2013, Hope House has joined with other domestic violence programs around the state by implementing the Lantern Project. For our part in this statewide project, we added to the lamppost in front of Hope House a purple wreath. We will turn on the light for a week every time there is a death related to domestic violence in Wisconsin. We will post information online about the person(s) that was killed. If you drive by our building and see our lamppost on, please reflect on the deadly impact that domestic violence has on our communities. We know the list of stories we post here is incomplete. We strive to learn about and share these stories but know that there are some that we and the media miss. If you see a news story of a death in WI related to domestic violence and don't see it posted here, please feel free to let us know about it here. Thank you. April 19th, 2020: George Hadjinian, Age 60 Obituary Homicide charges have been filed against a 31-year-old man police say opened fire on the home of his children’s mother on Milwaukee’s north side and killed a bystander in yet another instance of domestic violence turning deadly in the city. Arthur M. Kennedy of Milwaukee is facing a first-degree reckless homicide charge in connection with the April 19 shooting death of George Hadjinian, 60. Kennedy is in the Milwaukee County Jail with cash bail set at $100,000. The charges come as the city reels from a mass shooting in which four teens and one adult were killed in a home along the 2800 block of North 12th Street on Monday. The suspect in that shooting, who has not yet been charged, has a history of domestic violence. According to the criminal complaint: Police were called to the 4900 block of North 49th Street shortly after 5 p.m. on April 19 after four witnesses said they saw or heard Kennedy fire several times into a home. Emergency responders located Hadjinian in the driver’s seat of a car near the home with a single gunshot wound. Witnesses told police that Kennedy had been kicked out of the home several weeks earlier by the mother of his children. During a family barbecue earlier on April 19, Kennedy showed up and argued with the woman and other family members until police arrived and told him to leave. A witness told police that Kennedy has a long history of abusing the mother of his children. He’s had extensive run-ins with police dating back to 2006 and pleaded guilty to battery and witness intimidation in 2016, according to online court records. Kennedy showed up at the house again late that afternoon and tossed two cinder blocks through the living room window of the home. The occupants, which included several children, ran to the basement as Kennedy fired as many as six shots from the front of the home, witnesses said. Police later found three casings on the street. At the time of the shooting, one witness said he saw a vehicle, which was driven by Hadjinian, pull into a driveway nearby. Another witness said she saw Kennedy yelling at the driver to leave and shooting in the direction of the car twice.  April 24th, 2020: Craig Tarr, Age 60 Obituary RIVER FALLS, WI. Craig Tarr and his son Amory Haydn, have been identified as the victims found shot dead inside a River Falls, Wisconsin, home on Friday. Tarr, 60, of River Falls, and his 32-year-old son, of Hudson, were found shot dead in what appears to be a murder-suicide. No official determination on the deaths was provided by officials. The father and son were found dead of gunshot injuries Friday morning at a residence located at, W11309 840th Ave in River Falls. According to police, Amory called 911 to tell police his father had been shot. Upon arrival, officials found both men dead of gunshot injuries. The incident is still under investigation. Law enforcement officials said there is no outstanding threat to the public. Craig Tarr was the president of Minnesota and Wisconsin based solar company Energy Concepts. The deadly incident remains under investigation.  April 27th, 2020: Demetrius Thomas, Age 14, Tera Agee, Age 16, Lakeitha Stokes, Age 17, Marcus Stokes, Age 19, Teresa Thomas, Age 41
Teresa Thomas, Demetrius Thomas, Tera Agee (left) Relatives of those victims are now speaking out. They say they want answers — and for the public to realize there are two families mourning this incredible loss. A relative of the eldest victim in this tragedy identified as Teresa Thomas said Thomas and the suspect had an on-again-off-again relationship. Family members say the victims are from Thomas’ side of the family as well as his side. “My sister was Teresa Thomas. My nephew was Demetrius Thomas. My niece was Tera — and I am distraught. I need to know what is going on. I am confused. I’m trying to figure out how you kill five people,” said Teresa’s brother, Johnny Hall. Hall said his life has forever changed. “Sometimes I think I’m dreaming,” Hall said. Hall said he had to identify his sister to authorities. Teresa Thomas was one of the five persons who died in the home near 12th and Locust. Scene of shooting that left 5 dead in home near 12th and Hadley, Milwaukee “My sister took care of everybody. Teresa Thomas took care of everybody,” Hall said. Family members shared pictures with FOX6 News. They say the suspect arrested by police is 43-year-old Christopher Stokes. “Chris was part of our family,” said Toni Cage, a relative of the victims. Relatives on Tuesday said Stokes had once broken Thomas’ arm, relatives say. Family members feel Thomas may have wanted to leave Stokes. “He killed his son — his own son,” said Linda Hines, a relative of the victims. They saw Stokes as recently as last week. “It didn’t seem like he was having no problems,” Hines said. Family members learned the shooting inside the house started in the early hours of the morning. Thomas’ grandchild was spared in the shooting. But they say he was found covered in blood. “There’s two families involved in this,” Cage said. “These families have known each other for years. We have to grieve together. We have to come together.” Relatives say despite what has happened, there are two families in shock and dealing with the unimaginable. “These families have known each other for years. We have to grieve together. We have to come together,” Cage said. Hall has started a Go Fund Me page to raise money to give his sister, his niece, and his nephew a proper burial. CLICK HERE to learn more. Milwaukee police say this an ongoing and active investigation. |
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