Dwayne Carter, 43, male, was killed in Milwaukee on the morning of October 18, 2025, after an all-night poker game at a house near West Appleton Avenue and West Ruby Avenue on the city's northwest side. Police were called just after 7:30 a.m.; Carter was found in the home's basement, and a second victim, 33-year-old Shaquille E. Madison, collapsed outside and later died at Froedtert Hospital, according to officials and local reporting.
According to a criminal complaint described by local media, players were cleaning up when a masked, heavy-set man carrying a rifle rushed in, pointed the weapon, made “shooting” sounds, and fled. In the chaos, 35-year-old Donovan C. Jones—who had been at the game with Carter and Madison—retreated to the basement, took cover under the stairs, and fired eight shots toward a figure he said he could not see clearly. Surveillance footage reviewed by investigators showed the masked intruder run inside and then back out within seconds; moments later, Madison staggered from the doorway and fell. Jones then called 911, telling police he thought he had shot his friend.
Milwaukee police initially took a 35-year-old into custody at the scene. Days later, prosecutors charged Jones with two counts of first-degree reckless homicide, noting that preliminary ballistics indicated all recovered casings matched his firearm; he was held on a cash bond while awaiting a hearing. Authorities also said they were looking for another person connected to the incident—the masked intruder seen on video—who had not been identified.
Officials identified Carter as the 43-year-old victim in the Appleton and Ruby shooting, and memorial pages also listed his date of death as October 18, 2025, in Milwaukee. The case, born from fear and confusion inside a private card game, left detectives pursuing the role of the masked figure while the man who pulled the trigger faced charges that, according to the complaint, rested on his admitted gunfire and the evidence found in the basement.
