Shaquill Emann Madison, a 33-year-old Black/African American man, was killed during a chaotic shooting on the morning of October 18, 2025, at a residence on the 7900 block of West Appleton Avenue near 79th Street and Ruby Avenue in Milwaukee. Madison, known to friends as “Shaq” and as DJ Reckless, had spent the night at the residence where a poker game had been taking place.
Friends later remembered him as a devoted father, teammate, DJ and friend who was known for bringing energy into a room and making sure the people around him were enjoying themselves.
The gathering had continued through the night and into the early morning. According to the criminal complaint, approximately 10 people had attended the poker game, although most had left by the time the shooting occurred. Two large poker tables, cards, chips and posted poker rules were later found inside. Donovan Jones, who had been participating in the gathering, told investigators he had arrived the previous evening and that the game lasted beyond 6 a.m. He said that at one point the electricity went out, making those still inside suspicious enough that several people armed themselves.
As the remaining people prepared to leave, Dwayne Carter went outside and then hurried back inside warning that someone wearing a mask was attempting to rob them. Surveillance footage later supported at least part of that account. Investigators said video showed a heavy-set person dressed in dark clothing and wearing a ski mask running toward the house with a rifle as Madison turned back toward the residence. The masked person opened the front door, entered for only about three seconds and then fled down Appleton Avenue. A witness also reported seeing a masked person enter carrying what appeared to be an AK-47-style rifle, point the weapon into the room and make gunshot-like sounds before running away.
Jones told police that after learning of the apparent robbery attempt, he ran into the basement, hid beneath the stairs and chambered a round in his handgun. Madison and Carter also went toward another portion of the basement. Jones said he could hear movement and became frightened when he saw what appeared to be the silhouette of an arm and a firearm approaching. Without being able to clearly see the person, Jones began firing repeatedly. According to the complaint, Jones acknowledged that nobody had pointed a firearm directly at him, that he could not see exactly who he was shooting at and that he was unaware of anyone returning fire.
The gunfire struck Madison and Carter rather than the masked intruder. Carter was found inside the basement and was pronounced dead at the scene. Madison managed to make his way outside, where surveillance footage showed him stumbling from the front entrance and collapsing. Police found him in front of the residence and he was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead from his injuries. Police were dispatched to the scene at approximately 7:32 a.m.
Investigators recovered nine spent 9mm cartridge casings from the basement. Jones identified a recovered 9mm semiautomatic handgun as his and acknowledged using it during the shooting. Preliminary ballistics testing linked the spent casings recovered at the scene to Jones's firearm. Authorities reported no evidence that the masked intruder fired a weapon inside the house. Police also recovered substantial amounts of cash associated with the poker game, including more than $8,000 in a backpack near where Madison was found and more than $5,000 associated with Carter, as well as additional firearms in the basement.
Jones called 911 after the shooting and told authorities he believed he had killed his friend. He was taken into custody and subsequently charged with two counts of first-degree reckless homicide, one for each death. At his October 23 initial appearance, prosecutors requested $250,000 cash bail, but a court commissioner set it at $35,000 after noting the unusual circumstances surrounding the apparent attempted robbery. Jones later entered not-guilty pleas. Court information reported in November indicated that he had posted $100,000 cash bond on November 20. The prosecution's theory was not that Jones deliberately set out to kill Madison and Carter, but that firing repeatedly toward a person he could not identify created the circumstances supporting reckless-homicide charges.
The investigation eventually produced a second defendant connected to the events that allegedly triggered the shooting. Prosecutors identified Mackenzie Burse as the suspected masked intruder and charged him with armed burglary, attempted armed robbery, conspiracy to commit armed robbery and possession of a firearm by a felon. Surveillance footage showed a Mitsubishi Outlander in the area, and investigators determined Burse was the registered owner. Prosecutors alleged that the vehicle appeared to be operating in concert with the masked person during the attempted robbery.
Police also showed surveillance images to Burse's probation agents. According to the criminal complaint, one agent said the masked person's body type and distinctive limp resembled Burse, while another agent positively identified him from the footage. Burse had been stopped and arrested by police on October 20 during the investigation, and detectives reportedly noticed that his distinctive gait resembled that of the person captured on surveillance. A search of his phone also allegedly uncovered a photograph taken several days before the shooting showing a hand holding an unspent cartridge of the same caliber and brand as a cartridge investigators found outside the poker house. The location data associated with that photograph reportedly placed it at Burse's residence, which was nearby. Prosecutors later filed the robbery-related charges, and a warrant for Burse was issued on November 18.
The evidence therefore resulted in two different sets of allegations. Jones was accused of actually firing the shots that killed Madison and Carter, while Burse was accused of participating in the armed intrusion or attempted robbery that prosecutors alleged precipitated the panic and gunfire. The publicly available reporting located for the case does not establish that the masked suspect fired any shots, and the recovered spent casings were preliminarily linked to Jones's handgun. As of the latest reliable online reporting located, Jones had pleaded not guilty and the cases remained criminal proceedings rather than completed convictions; no reliable published source located showed that either defendant had been convicted at trial or sentenced in connection with Madison's death.
