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.
June 5th, 2020: Alona Gentry, Age 26
A 26-year-old Alona Gentry died from her injuries Friday night after, Milwaukee police say, her partner shot her during an argument.
Milwaukee police responded to the shooting around 7:30 p.m. in the 8500 block of West Appleton Avenue, according to a news release.
Gentry had a relationship with the suspect, police said. During an argument, the suspect “retrieved a firearm and shot (her) once in the stomach,” police said. She was taken to a local hospital, where she died of her injuries. Police arrested the suspect.
June 8th, 2020: Robert and Bonnie Rosolowski
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Robert’s Obituary
Bonnie’s Obituary
Rusk County (WQOW) – We have learned one of the suspects in a Rusk County double homicide, Adam Rosolowski, is the grandson of the victims Robert and Bonnie Rosolowski.
That information is contained in a criminal complaint News 18 obtained involving a different court case. In 2018, Adam Rosolowski was charged with stealing a handgun and $600 from his grandparents and driving away in their SUV. He was living with them at the time according to court records.
In March of this year he was placed on probation for a year, ordered to repay the stolen money and maintain absolute sobriety. The lawyer told the judge at sentencing that Adam was enrolled in a program to obtain his GED and “has things on track with his life now.” Rosolowski, along with Joseph Falk, 17, and a juvenile male were taken into custody as suspects in the murders which were discovered Sunday near Sheldon.
June 14th, 2020: Unnamed Baby, Age 3 Months Old
MILWAUKEE — A 22-year-old Milwaukee man has been charged in connection to the death of his 3-month-old son.
Davionte Allen is charged with one count of first-degree reckless homicide and one count of neglecting a child, consequence is death.
According to a criminal complaint, Allen was left alone with the child for around an hour and a half on Friday, June 12 at a residence near 36th and Sheridan. During that time, the child’s mother had gone to run an errand. Upon her return, the child “appeared to be sleeping” inside a pack-and-play. Allen recorded the child making “weird grunting noises” while the mother was away. Not knowing what happened while she was gone, the mother continued to let the child sleep.
Approximately two hours later, the complaint states, the mother went to wake the child, but he was limp and unresponsive. She then rushed him to the hospital.
A CT scan at the hospital showed large bleeding on the brain, consistent with traumatic impact from shaken baby syndrome. The child was intubated and transferred to the Children’s Wisconsin intensive care unit.
There, the child was found to have hemorrhages “too numerous to count” extended into all layers of the retina. The child also had brain hemorrhage and herniation and damage to the brainstem. The complaint states that the child also had multiple, healing rib fractures.
A brain death evaluation was made by the hospital’s neurology department, revealing a complete loss of brain function. The child was taken off life support and died on June 14.
MILWAUKEE — A 22-year-old Milwaukee man has been charged in connection to the death of his 3-month-old son.
Davionte Allen is charged with one count of first-degree reckless homicide and one count of neglecting a child, consequence is death.
According to a criminal complaint, Allen was left alone with the child for around an hour and a half on Friday, June 12 at a residence near 36th and Sheridan. During that time, the child’s mother had gone to run an errand. Upon her return, the child “appeared to be sleeping” inside a pack-and-play. Allen recorded the child making “weird grunting noises” while the mother was away. Not knowing what happened while she was gone, the mother continued to let the child sleep.
Approximately two hours later, the complaint states, the mother went to wake the child, but he was limp and unresponsive. She then rushed him to the hospital.
A CT scan at the hospital showed large bleeding on the brain, consistent with traumatic impact from shaken baby syndrome. The child was intubated and transferred to the Children’s Wisconsin intensive care unit.
There, the child was found to have hemorrhages “too numerous to count” extended into all layers of the retina. The child also had brain hemorrhage and herniation and damage to the brainstem. The complaint states that the child also had multiple, healing rib fractures.
A brain death evaluation was made by the hospital’s neurology department, revealing a complete loss of brain function. The child was taken off life support and died on June 14.
June 16th, 2020: Nedra and Jim Lemke, Age 57 and 59
Nedra’s Obituary
Jim’s Obituary
SUMNER, Wis. — The two people who were killed outside of a Jefferson County home have been identified as Nedra Lemke, 57, and Jim Lemke, 59. The Fort Atkinson community and many around the world who have been touched by the couple’s kindness are mourning them, as investigators search for the wife’s brother.
Law enforcement officials were dispatched to a possible burglary Tuesday night. When they arrived, a deputy found the Lemke’s bodies in the driveway.
According to the Wisconsin Department of Justice’s Division of Criminal Investigation, the deputy was then shot at from the home. He returned fire before seeing black smoke coming from the house, which later went up in flames.
It has been determined that both Nedra and Jim Lemke died from gunshot wounds in front of Nedra’s late father’s home. Her father died less than two weeks before this incident.
“Sometimes when you hear stories like this, you hear ‘This was the best person ever’, and you wonder if that’s really true. But in this case, it is,” said John Ackatz, the Lemke’s pastor at Faith Community Church.
Ackatz said Nedra and Jim worked in the church’s youth ministry program for the last 20 years. Along with teaching Sunday school to middle school students, they also went on multiple mission trips around the world.
The Department of Justice is still searching for 61-year-old Kevin P. Anderson who is believed to be involved with the incident.
Nedra’s Obituary
Jim’s Obituary
SUMNER, Wis. — The two people who were killed outside of a Jefferson County home have been identified as Nedra Lemke, 57, and Jim Lemke, 59. The Fort Atkinson community and many around the world who have been touched by the couple’s kindness are mourning them, as investigators search for the wife’s brother.
Law enforcement officials were dispatched to a possible burglary Tuesday night. When they arrived, a deputy found the Lemke’s bodies in the driveway.
According to the Wisconsin Department of Justice’s Division of Criminal Investigation, the deputy was then shot at from the home. He returned fire before seeing black smoke coming from the house, which later went up in flames.
It has been determined that both Nedra and Jim Lemke died from gunshot wounds in front of Nedra’s late father’s home. Her father died less than two weeks before this incident.
“Sometimes when you hear stories like this, you hear ‘This was the best person ever’, and you wonder if that’s really true. But in this case, it is,” said John Ackatz, the Lemke’s pastor at Faith Community Church.
Ackatz said Nedra and Jim worked in the church’s youth ministry program for the last 20 years. Along with teaching Sunday school to middle school students, they also went on multiple mission trips around the world.
The Department of Justice is still searching for 61-year-old Kevin P. Anderson who is believed to be involved with the incident.
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