Jaisiah Dauquan Owens was a 25-year-old Black/African American man from Manitowoc, Wisconsin, whose life ended after a confrontation outside the Clover Meadows Apartments during the early morning hours of September 23, 2025. Owens had been born and raised in Manitowoc, graduated from Lincoln High School in 2018, and worked at Manitowoc Tool and Manufacturing.
Family and friends remembered him as a devoted father, son, brother and friend with an infectious laugh, an easygoing personality and a way of making the people around him feel important.
The events that led to Owens' death unfolded shortly after 1:30 a.m. along Dewey Street. Investigators said Owens arrived at the apartment complex with another person. During later court testimony, a detective said the witness driving Owens told investigators that they had gone there to help a woman. Owens got out of the vehicle, spoke with a woman and then approached or manipulated a door before beginning to walk back toward the vehicle. According to the witness, a burst of gunfire suddenly erupted and Owens fell to the ground.
Authorities identified Kirk Dunn as the other person involved in the gunfire. Dunn was then 20 and was dating Brianna Balzan, a woman who investigators said had previously been involved with Owens but described her relationship with Owens at that point as a friendship. Family members who spoke during Dunn's bail hearing said the conflict was connected to a woman, while subsequent court records revealed there had reportedly been previous confrontations between Owens and Dunn.
Dunn gave investigators a self-defense account of what happened. He said he had noticed an unfamiliar vehicle outside the apartment and believed something was wrong, prompting him to go upstairs and retrieve a firearm. Dunn told police that when he opened the apartment door, he saw a blue laser from a firearm aimed at him. According to his version of events, a shot was fired at him first and he returned fire before retreating into the apartment and closing the door. Investigators and news reports have described the encounter as an exchange of gunfire between the two men, but Dunn's assertion that Owens fired first remains part of his defense rather than a proven finding of fact.
Owens was struck three times. Autopsy information cited in court records showed that one bullet entered through his left rib area, penetrated a lung and exited his body. Another projectile struck his liver and aorta, while a third struck his calf. After being wounded, Owens was able to reach the vehicle of the person who had accompanied him. Instead of arriving at a hospital, the vehicle eventually stopped at another location on South 17th Street. Police found Owens there, and officers performed life-saving measures and CPR, but his wounds were too severe and he was pronounced dead.
The investigation also revealed that the gunfire endangered someone beyond the two men involved in the confrontation. Authorities said one of the rounds traveled into another residence or building where a person was sleeping. Prosecutors relied on that allegation in bringing an additional reckless-endangerment charge against Dunn. Court reporting later indicated that prosecutors alleged Dunn used a. 40-caliber handgun during the shooting.
Dunn was arrested shortly after the shooting and held in the Manitowoc County Jail. A court commissioner set his cash bond at $500,000 and ordered him to have no contact with Owens' family or witnesses and not to possess firearms. Prosecutors formally charged Dunn with first-degree intentional homicide and second-degree recklessly endangering safety. If convicted of the homicide charge, he faces the possibility of life imprisonment.
At Dunn's October 9, 2025 preliminary hearing, Detective Eric Schultz testified about the circumstances surrounding the shooting and the witness account of Owens falling during the burst of gunfire. Dunn's defense attempted to have the reckless-endangerment count dismissed, arguing that the person inside the nearby residence had not been placed in sufficient danger to justify the charge. Manitowoc County District Attorney Jacalyn LaBre countered that a gunshot had entered the residence while a person was sleeping inside. Judge Anthony Lambrecht rejected the defense request, found there was sufficient evidence to proceed, and bound Dunn over for trial. During arguments, prosecutors also alleged that Dunn had dressed in black clothing and a black mask before the shooting, while the defense maintained that Owens had been the aggressor and that Dunn acted to protect himself.
Dunn appeared for arraignment on October 15, 2025 and pleaded not guilty to first-degree intentional homicide and second-degree recklessly endangering safety. His defense has continued to maintain that the shooting was justified as self-defense. The criminal case therefore has not resulted in a conviction, and the competing accounts of who initiated the deadly confrontation remain matters for the court and ultimately a jury to decide.
As the case progressed through 2026, Dunn remained in custody on the $500,000 cash bond. Court proceedings ultimately resulted in a five-day jury trial being scheduled to begin November 16, 2026. Reports in August 2026 continued to describe Dunn as maintaining his innocence and self-defense claim, with a final pretrial proceeding scheduled before the November trial. As of September 12, 2026, no trial verdict or conviction had been reported, meaning Dunn remains accused of killing Owens but has not been found guilty of the charges.
Beyond the criminal investigation, Owens' death left a deep mark on the Manitowoc community. Friends and relatives gathered for a candlelight vigil and spoke about his humor, his smile and the influence he had on people throughout his life. Members of the Nolden family, who had known him since childhood through Big Brothers Big Sisters, described him as having grown into part of their family. His obituary similarly remembered a joyful and loving person whose relationships with his children, relatives and friends were central to his life. Those who gathered after his death said they intended to keep his memory alive while continuing to seek justice as the criminal case against Dunn moves toward trial.
