Marquis Lamont D’Jon Champion, a 16-year-old Black/African American male from Milwaukee, was fatally shot on the night of October 20, 2025, during a violent attack inside a residence at 7936 West Hampton Avenue, near North 79th Street and Hampton Avenue on Milwaukee’s northwest side. Champion, a student at Bay View High School and the nephew of Milwaukee Alderman Mark Chambers Jr., had been visiting the home when gunfire erupted.
Two other teenagers were also wounded in the shooting but survived.
According to the criminal complaint, Champion and two other young people were sitting next to one another at the kitchen table while Martell De Ante Haire, known by the nickname “Gotti,” was also inside the home. A woman at the residence told investigators that she and Haire became involved in a verbal disagreement after he repeatedly referred to younger girls at the gathering as “women.” She told investigators that she ordered Haire to leave. Haire allegedly began gathering his belongings and moved between the living room and kitchen before returning to the kitchen with a small black handgun. The woman said Haire walked behind her, produced the weapon and suddenly began firing at the three people seated at the table. According to her statement, there had been no confrontation between the teenagers and Haire that would explain why they were targeted.
The shooting sent people inside the residence scrambling for safety. One surviving victim later told detectives that after being hit several times, he fell to the floor and pretended to be dead because he feared the gunman would continue shooting him. Police documented gunshot wounds to that victim’s upper back, arm, thigh and ankle, and he required emergency surgery at Children’s Hospital. The other surviving shooting victim suffered wounds to the lower abdomen, arm and thumb and was taken to Froedtert Hospital. The woman who had argued with Haire told investigators that while Haire was firing, he fell to the floor and then pointed the handgun at her and attempted to pull the trigger. She believed the weapon had run out of ammunition by that point, and Haire allegedly fled the residence.
Champion managed to make it outside before collapsing. A man who lived at the address told investigators that he saw an unfamiliar person running from the residence, followed shortly afterward by Champion. Champion’s sister came out as well, saying that her brothers had been shot. The residents placed the wounded victims into a vehicle and attempted to drive them to a Wauwatosa urgent-care facility, only to discover that it was closed. They returned to the shooting scene, where police had arrived. An officer found Champion slumped in the front passenger seat of a silver sedan with a significant amount of blood on him and no apparent signs of breathing. Milwaukee Fire Department personnel attempted lifesaving measures, but he was pronounced dead. An autopsy later determined that he died from gunshot wounds involving his head, neck and right upper extremity.
Investigators recovered nine spent 9mm cartridge casings from inside the residence. A glass liquor bottle was also collected and processed for fingerprints and DNA; according to the criminal complaint, latent fingerprints on the bottle were identified as Haire’s right index finger and left thumb. Multiple witnesses identified Haire from photographic arrays as the man they knew as “Gotti,” and another witness identified him as the person seen running from the residence after the shooting. Nearby surveillance footage captured the sound of approximately 10 to 12 gunshots in rapid succession and then showed a person running away from the area moments later.
The Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office subsequently charged Haire with first-degree reckless homicide with use of a dangerous weapon in Champion’s death, two counts of first-degree reckless injury with use of a dangerous weapon for the wounded victims, first-degree recklessly endangering safety with use of a dangerous weapon for allegedly pointing the firearm at another person, and possession of a firearm by a felon. Prosecutors noted that Haire had a prior felony firearm conviction from 2006. The combined charges exposed him to a potential sentence exceeding 141 years in prison if convicted on all counts.
Haire was not immediately captured after the shooting, prompting Milwaukee police and Champion’s family to ask the public for help finding him. A $25,000 reward was eventually offered for information leading to his arrest. Authorities located Haire in Oklahoma in November 2025 after a woman reportedly recognized him from news coverage and provided information that helped authorities find him. U.S. Marshals took him into custody, ending a search that had lasted several weeks. He was subsequently returned to Wisconsin, and at his December 2 initial court appearance in Milwaukee County, a judge set his cash bond at $500,000.
The criminal case continued into 2026. On March 19, Haire pleaded not guilty, and the court found probable cause to move the case forward and ordered him bound over for trial. The most recent publicly available reporting located on the case, published in July 2026, continued to describe Haire as awaiting trial, with no conviction or sentencing reported at that time. The charges remain allegations unless and until they are proven in court.
