Julius Arberry was killed during the early morning hours of July 22, 2025, in Milwaukee’s Old North Milwaukee neighborhood. Arberry, a 50-year-old Black/African American man, was one of two friends fatally shot near North 41st Street and West Glendale Avenue. Milwaukee police were called to the area at approximately 2:30 a.m., where they encountered a scene that residents said had been preceded by the sound of several gunshots.
Arberry was found outside the residence where his family
said he lived, lying on the sidewalk in front of the home. His friend, 49-year-old Donald McGraw II, was found on or near the porch steps. Both men had suffered fatal gunshot wounds and were pronounced dead. The Milwaukee County Medical Examiner’s Office subsequently identified Arberry and McGraw as the two victims. Family members described McGraw as a friend who regularly visited Arberry at the house, while neighbors said the men were familiar faces who generally kept to themselves.
People living nearby described being awakened by the gunfire shortly before police arrived. One neighbor recalled hearing approximately three shots before looking outside and discovering that two people had been shot. Other residents said Arberry and McGraw had apparently been spending time outside the residence before the shooting. Nothing publicly released by investigators indicated that the two men had been involved in an argument or confrontation immediately before they were attacked, and authorities did not announce what they believed prompted the gunfire.
The killings added to concerns about violence around the immediate area of 41st Street and Glendale Avenue. Approximately two months earlier, an 18-year-old man had also been fatally shot at the same location. Authorities did not publicly establish a connection between that earlier homicide and the deaths of Arberry and McGraw, however, and there was no indication in available reporting that investigators considered the incidents related.
Milwaukee police opened a double-homicide investigation and began searching for whoever was responsible. In the days following the killings, investigators had not publicly identified a suspect, announced a possible motive, or disclosed circumstances explaining why Arberry and McGraw were targeted. Police also had not announced an arrest. The department appealed to anyone who witnessed the shooting or had information about the person responsible to contact investigators, with anonymous tips also being accepted through Milwaukee Crime Stoppers.
Publicly available reporting on the case has not identified a person charged with the murders of Julius Arberry and Donald McGraw II, nor has it reported a trial or conviction connected to their deaths. The case therefore remained publicly unresolved in the available information, with the identity of the shooter and the reason the two friends were killed still undisclosed.
