Gregory Xavier Ashford Sr., a 32-year-old Black/African American man from Beloit, Wisconsin, was killed in a shooting on the evening of December 26, 2024. The violence unfolded the day after Christmas in the 1200 block of Oak Street. Shortly before 7:45 p.m., Beloit police were dispatched after receiving reports of gunfire and two people being shot. Officers arriving at the scene found Ashford and another victim suffering from injuries.
The second victim, a woman, survived and police said her injuries were not life-threatening. Ashford’s wounds proved fatal, and his obituary records that he died at Beloit Memorial Hospital that night.
In the days immediately following the shooting, authorities initially withheld Ashford’s identity while the investigation continued. On January 2, 2025, Beloit police publicly confirmed that Gregory X. Ashford was the person who had been killed. Police Chief Andre Sayles described the shooting as a targeted act, indicating investigators did not believe the attack represented a continuing danger to the broader Beloit community. The circumstances publicly released by investigators did not explain why Ashford was targeted or disclose whether the surviving victim was also an intended target.
Investigators appeared to have developed information relatively quickly. Chief Sayles said detectives had useful information and follow-up leads, but police deliberately withheld details because releasing them could interfere with the investigative methods being used to identify and apprehend the person responsible. At that point, the shooter remained at large. Police did not publicly identify a suspect, provide a description of the person being sought, or disclose a possible motive. Sayles emphasized that investigators intended to pursue the available leads and bring the person responsible to justice.
Ashford had deep ties to Beloit. He was born in Chicago on January 27, 1992, and grew up in Beloit, where he attended Beloit Memorial High School and was involved in basketball. He married Karissa Lynn Johnson in Janesville in June 2021 and was the father of several children. His family remembered him as someone who enjoyed singing and dancing, had an outgoing personality, and was particularly devoted to his children and extended family. His funeral service was held at New Life Ministries in Beloit on January 10, 2025, followed by burial at Eastlawn Cemetery.
The homicide remained publicly unresolved in the reporting located for this synopsis. The most substantive police update said the attack was targeted and that detectives had promising leads, but the responsible individual had not yet been apprehended. No reliable subsequent online reporting located through September 2026 identifies a suspect by name or documents an arrest, criminal charge, trial, or conviction in Ashford’s killing. Police have continued to seek information from anyone who may know what happened, with tips directed to the Greater Beloit Area Crime Stoppers.
