Justin Smith was a 41-year-old Black / African American man whose life ended inside the Milwaukee home he shared with family on February 26, 2025. During the early morning hours, tension was building between Justin and his older brother, Brandon Smith, at their residence in the 4900 block of North 47th Street, near North 47th Street and West Stark Street. Their mother was also in the house.
According to the criminal complaint, Brandon had been staying at the residence following his divorce and had developed a belief that Justin had been involved in an intimate relationship with Brandon's former wife. Their mother told investigators that belief was not true.
The conflict intensified at about 4:00 a.m. Brandon accused Justin of having another man at the house who intended to harm him. Their mother told investigators that no one else was present and that Justin initially stayed in his room rather than engaging in the argument. Brandon called police, and officers responded before eventually leaving. The dispute continued afterward. Their mother separated the brothers and sent them to their respective rooms, but Brandon later told investigators that he still believed he was in danger and began walking through the house. He claimed that Justin was monitoring him through his cellphone and that he believed he heard Justin speaking with another person about ambushing him, although he admitted that he never actually saw the person he believed was there.
The confrontation eventually became physical. According to the criminal complaint, Brandon obtained a hammer from the kitchen and confronted Justin. Their mother awoke after hearing Justin screaming and found the brothers struggling on the floor, with Brandon on top of Justin as Justin was bleeding from the head. Investigators said Brandon struck his brother twice in the head with the hammer. Their mother intervened, took possession of the hammer, and separated them. Justin then retreated into his bedroom. Rather than ending there, the violence escalated further when Brandon obtained a handgun, went after Justin and shot him in the chest.
Their mother attempted to reach and assist Justin after the shooting, but the criminal complaint alleged that Brandon initially prevented her from doing so and refused to allow her to immediately call 911. She eventually managed to contact authorities. Milwaukee police arrived at approximately 6:43 a.m. When officers entered the residence, the mother directed them toward Brandon and indicated that he was the person who had hurt Justin. Officers then entered another room and found Justin lying on the floor surrounded by blood. He had suffered extensive blunt-force injuries to his head and face in addition to the gunshot wound. He was pronounced dead at the scene, and an autopsy later determined that the fatal injury was the gunshot wound to his chest.
Investigators recovered a bloody hammer near Justin and two firearms from the residence. A woman who lived in the home showed detectives where she had hidden Brandon's gun, identifying it as the firearm used in the shooting. Brandon was taken into custody. During his interview with investigators, he continued to describe his belief that Justin intended to kill him and said the brothers had never previously pulled guns on one another. Prosecutors subsequently charged Brandon Smith with first-degree intentional homicide. At his initial appearance in Milwaukee County Circuit Court on March 2, 2025, cash bond was set at $150,000.
The criminal case ultimately proceeded to trial. On April 1, 2026, a Milwaukee County jury did not convict Brandon of the originally charged offense of first-degree intentional homicide but instead found him guilty of the lesser offense of first-degree reckless homicide in Justin's death. The verdict brought the question of who was responsible for the killing to a legal conclusion more than a year after Justin was found dead inside the family home.
On June 5, 2026, Milwaukee County Judge Laura Crivello sentenced Brandon Smith to 22 years in prison, followed by 20 years of extended supervision. He received credit for more than a year already spent in custody. The sentence completed the prosecution arising from the violent confrontation that began as an early-morning dispute between two brothers and ended with Justin suffering both a hammer attack and a fatal gunshot wound inside his own home.
