Kendall Corder, a 32-year-old Black/African American man, was a Milwaukee Police Department officer with more than six years of service when he was mortally wounded while responding to an armed-person call on the night of June 26, 2025. Although the shooting occurred on June 26, online records show that Corder remained hospitalized for several days and died from his injuries on June 29, 2025.
The events that brought Corder and his partner, Officer Christopher McCray, to the area of North
25th Street and West Garfield Avenue began with a volatile dispute involving Tremaine Deandre Jones and several other people. Prosecutors later presented evidence that arguments and fights between groups of women had developed amid allegations involving relationships and cheating. On the evening of June 26, witnesses and video evidence placed Jones in the neighborhood carrying a large firearm. Prosecutors said Jones fired shots into the air and threatened people inside an apartment building. Gunfire was also exchanged between Jones and someone inside the building, prompting multiple calls to 911 reporting a man with a gun and shots being fired.
At approximately 9:22 p.m., Corder and McCray arrived to investigate. Both officers were in uniform and began approaching the area on foot through an alley. McCray later testified that as they moved down the alley, he saw a flash coming from bushes and initially heard what sounded like a firework. Almost immediately, additional flashes and gunshots followed. Investigators and prosecutors determined that 16 rifle rounds were fired from the area of the bushes toward the officers. Neither Corder nor McCray was able to return fire.
Corder was struck three times. Medical testimony at Jones' later trial established that one bullet severed Corder's spine and another struck his chest, causing devastating injuries. McCray was also shot three times, suffering wounds to his foot, thigh and back. Responding officers found Corder lying motionless and unresponsive in the alley. Both wounded officers were rushed for emergency medical treatment. McCray survived and was released from the hospital two days later, while Corder remained on life support until his death on June 29. The Milwaukee County Medical Examiner determined that Corder died from multiple gunshot wounds and ruled his death a homicide.
The investigation quickly focused on Tremaine Jones. Police recovered 16 fired rifle casings near the location from which the officers had been attacked. Officers also found a rifle along a fence line, and forensic examination linked that firearm to the cartridge casings recovered from the scene. Investigators found a fingerprint identified as Jones' on the weapon. A backpack discovered nearby contained personal items identifying Jones, including documents and debit cards. Investigators also obtained video footage showing a man identified as Jones carrying a large firearm before the officers arrived, while cellphone and other evidence placed him in the area.
Witness testimony became another significant part of the case. One witness testified that he followed Jones after the earlier confrontation and saw him position himself in bushes near where Corder and McCray would later be shot. During Jones' trial, prosecutors also played footage depicting Jones with the weapon and presented the 911 calls that had summoned police to the neighborhood. McCray testified about seeing muzzle flashes coming from the bushes immediately before he and Corder were struck.
Jones fled the immediate area following the shooting. Investigators traced him to a residence near North 37th Street and West Villard Avenue associated with Jermela Kittler. Police arrested Jones there several hours after the shooting, early on June 27, without further incident. Authorities alleged that Kittler had helped Jones after the attack, including bringing him clothing and assisting him while police were searching for him. She was also accused of misleading officers about whether Jones was inside her residence.
Prosecutors charged Jones with first-degree intentional homicide in Corder's death, attempted first-degree intentional homicide for the shooting of McCray, and first-degree recklessly endangering safety. The charges included allegations involving the use of a dangerous weapon. His bail was initially set at $500,000, and he remained in custody while the case proceeded. As the prosecution developed its case, Jones maintained a not-guilty plea. Court filings indicated that he claimed he initially did not realize the people he fired upon were police officers, although other evidence showed the officers had approached the area while performing their duties in response to the emergency calls.
Jones' jury trial began in Milwaukee County Circuit Court on March 30, 2026. Prosecutors presented dozens of witnesses and hundreds of exhibits, including neighborhood surveillance footage, body-camera evidence, forensic evidence, the recovered rifle, testimony from McCray, testimony from people who had been present during the earlier dispute, and evidence tying Jones to both the firearm and the scene. A new felony count of possession of a short-barreled shotgun or rifle was also added at the start of the trial after authorities completed measurements of the weapon.
The defense challenged the prosecution's identification of Jones as the shooter and argued that the state had not established that he was the person who fired on the officers. Jones did not testify in his own defense. Prosecutors, however, pointed to the recovered weapon, Jones' fingerprint, his belongings found nearby, video and cellphone evidence, witness accounts, and a recorded jail telephone call as evidence connecting him to the ambush.
On April 3, 2026, after approximately three hours of deliberations, the jury found Jones guilty on every charge. He was convicted of first-degree intentional homicide for killing Corder, attempted first-degree intentional homicide for shooting McCray, first-degree recklessly endangering safety, and possession of a short-barreled shotgun or rifle.
Jones returned to court for sentencing on June 12, 2026. Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Michelle Havas sentenced him to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole or extended release for Corder's murder. The sentence ensured that Jones would spend the remainder of his life in prison, with additional punishment imposed for the crimes committed against McCray and the other offenses.
Two other people also faced criminal consequences arising from the investigation. Jermela Kittler pleaded guilty to harboring or aiding a felon after prosecutors accused her of helping Jones avoid police following the shooting. She testified for the prosecution during Jones' trial and was sentenced in April 2026 to time already served. Bryshawn Tyler was charged with possession of a firearm by a felon after investigators determined that he had fired a gun from the apartment toward Jones during the confrontation that preceded the officers' arrival. Tyler pleaded guilty and was sentenced on April 23, 2026, to three years in prison followed by three years of extended supervision.
Corder's death became a line-of-duty killing that deeply affected the Milwaukee Police Department and the surrounding community. What began as officers responding to repeated reports of gunfire ended with Corder fatally wounded and McCray seriously injured in an alley. The investigation eventually produced extensive physical, forensic, video and witness evidence, and nearly ten months after the shooting, a jury held Jones criminally responsible for the ambush. His life-without-parole sentence brought the principal prosecution in Corder's killing to a close nearly a year after the officer was shot.
