Patrick Kelly Davis, a 58-year-old Black/African American man from Milwaukee, was killed on the afternoon of January 13, 2026, in a shooting near North 38th Street and West North Avenue on Milwaukee’s north side. Police were called to the area shortly before 2:30 p.m. and found Davis lying face down outside an apartment. Officers and firefighters attempted lifesaving measures, but he was pronounced dead at the scene.
The Milwaukee County Medical Examiner’s Office determined that he died from a gunshot wound; later reporting described the fatal injury as a single gunshot wound to the chest.
What initially appeared publicly to be a shooting with unknown circumstances soon developed into a homicide case centered on Nathaniel Richards of Brookfield. According to the criminal complaint, Davis had arrived at the apartment shortly before the shooting and became involved in an argument with Richards, who was known to witnesses as “Nate.” Investigators were told that the dispute involved a woman named Megan. One woman who was inside the apartment told police that she had gone there to purchase crack cocaine from Richards and that another man who lived at the residence allowed Richards to sell drugs from the apartment. Her account placed Davis and Richards together only minutes before the fatal gunfire.
According to that witness, the argument escalated when Richards went into a rear bedroom and returned with a handgun. Davis reportedly saw the weapon and attempted to leave the apartment. Richards allegedly followed him outside, and within seconds the witness heard a single gunshot. Another person inside the apartment told detectives that he had seen Richards holding a small black handgun during the confrontation and that the argument continued outside before he heard one shot. Richards allegedly did not return to the apartment afterward.
A friend who had driven Davis to the location also provided information to investigators. According to the complaint, the friend heard the gunshot and saw a red Jeep leaving the area shortly afterward before calling 911. At the scene, detectives documented physical evidence that included a single brass 9mm cartridge casing. Investigators also located a footprint impression in mud near the rear patio that appeared consistent with the footwear Davis had been wearing. Witness statements and the vehicle description helped investigators focus on Richards, and one witness later identified him from a police photo array as the person she knew as “Nate.”
Police located Richards and his vehicle in Brookfield and arrested him the following day. Investigators executed a search warrant at his apartment, where the criminal complaint says detectives recovered two pistols, ammunition and more than $62,000 in cash stored in three safes. Police also searched the red Jeep associated with Richards and found two cellphones along with a satchel containing multiple plastic bags of a white powdery substance. Approximately 206 grams of the substance reportedly tested positive for cocaine. The discoveries supported investigators’ broader account of what witnesses said had been occurring at the Milwaukee apartment, although the homicide charge itself centered on the allegation that Richards fatally shot Davis.
Prosecutors charged Nathaniel Richards with one count of first-degree reckless homicide in connection with Davis’s death. Under the charge filed against him, Richards faced a potential sentence of as much as 60 years in prison if convicted. The case was based in significant part on the witness accounts describing the argument, Richards allegedly obtaining a gun, Davis attempting to leave, Richards following him outside, the sound of a single gunshot and Richards allegedly departing in the red Jeep. Richards was treated as an accused defendant, and the allegations in the complaint had not yet been proven at trial.
The prosecution moved forward in Milwaukee County Circuit Court. On February 23, 2026, Richards appeared for a preliminary hearing, during which a Milwaukee police detective testified. The court found probable cause to continue the case and ordered Richards held for trial. Richards then entered a plea of not guilty to the first-degree reckless homicide charge. At that point, the case remained pending, with a status conference scheduled for April 10. The most recent publicly available reporting located on the case documents Richards’s not-guilty plea and the decision to bind him over for trial; no subsequent conviction or sentencing was identified in the online sources reviewed.
