Wisconsin man shoots dead sister near child taking online class within earshot of other students on Zoom call
MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN: A man allegedly shot and killed his pastor sister in their Milwaukee home, where a child was taking an online class. A school official said Thursday, September 17, that the gunshots were heard by other students who were on the Zoom call. Mario Stokes allegedly shot Michelle Blackmon numerous times in the head on September 11 while she was in the kitchen of their home, police and prosecutors said.
Speaking with NBC News, Milwaukee Public Schools spokesman Earl Arms, said: “It was one of our MPS students that had a shooting happen while they were on the (remote) classroom and everyone could hear it. It was inside the house.” However, Arms did not know how the child and the victim or the suspect were related.
A criminal complaint filed by Milwaukee County prosecutors stated that the 45-year-old accused has been charged with first-degree homicide and illegal possession of a firearm. A Smith & Wesson Bodyguard .380 handgun and several spent casings were recovered by investigators from the scene. The day when the 52-year-old was gunned down, a person who lived at the same address said, "The defendant had been talking crazy on the morning of September 11, 2020, when she awoke to the sound of 5 gunshots." The resident added that when she rushed downstairs to check the scenario, Stokes told her, “'I'm on my way to the police to turn myself in.'"
According to the complaint, the accused told the authorities that "his sister no longer existed, that he did it and that he used a .380.” However, when investigators interrogated him, he told them "he had argued with his sister the day before, and that he was still upset in the morning, that he stood in the kitchen and fired the gun”, WITI reported.
Reports have stated that the firearm charge brought against Stokes was from a past act when he was a convicted felon, but possessed a gun. In 2014, as per court records, he was found "guilty but not guilty due to mental disease/defect for possession of a firearm”. The accused appeared before a judge on Tuesday, September 15, via a video link. He was also ordered to undergo a mental assessment test, the report of which will be reviewed by a court on October 5. If Stokes’ mental condition is fine enough for him to stand trial and if he is found guilty, he could face up to 60 years in jail.
In another incident, a man from Sydney, Australia, was charged with murder after his sister’s rotting body was found in their home. Lucas Delaney was arrested after Gabby Delaney’s body was found in a Barlow Street home in Cambridge Park. Detective Inspector Jason Pietruszka said, “It was quite a confronting scene, the young lady had not been seen for six days and police who entered the scene described it as devastating, very confronting.”
Pietruszka added: “Domestic violence is a horrendous crime that is a scourge on our community. It's tragic — a 20-year-old girl who's life was before her, cut short. We believe sometime after she was reported missing… he presented himself to Cumberland Hospital.”