Geovonnie Amie, an 18-year-old Black male, was fatally shot on June 24, 2026, in a case that unfolded across the boundary between Mount Pleasant and Racine, Wisconsin. Shortly before noon, Racine police were dispatched to what initially appeared to be a traffic crash near Racine Street and 20th Street. Officers found Amie unresponsive behind the wheel of a Hyundai Elantra after the vehicle had rolled into a parked car. He had suffered a gunshot wound to his torso, and efforts to save him were unsuccessful. Investigators later determined that the shooting itself had occurred several blocks south, near the 2200 block of Racine Street in the village of Mount Pleasant, leading Mount Pleasant police to take over the homicide investigation.
Police reconstructed Amie's final moments and determined that he had continued driving after he was wounded. Authorities said he traveled approximately three blocks north from the location of the shooting before losing consciousness and crashing into the parked vehicle in Racine. Surveillance footage captured his car moving slowly down the street immediately before the collision. What had first appeared to responding officers to be an ordinary two-vehicle crash was therefore revealed to be the end of a fatal shooting that had begun in a neighboring jurisdiction.
As investigators developed the case, authorities said the shooting occurred during what they described as a robbery that went wrong. Racine police detective and U.S. Marshals Task Force officer Michael Seeger later said that an attempted purchase was taking place when Ronald Rallo Franklin allegedly produced a firearm and shot Amie. Police said Amie was sitting behind the wheel when Franklin allegedly fired through the passenger-side window. Later FOX6 reporting characterized the encounter as a botched drug robbery. These accusations remain allegations and have not been established by a conviction.
The investigation eventually focused on Ronald Rallo Franklin of Racine. On July 15, Mount Pleasant police announced that detectives had identified Franklin as the suspect and obtained an arrest warrant accusing him of felony murder and attempted armed robbery. Authorities began publicly circulating his photograph and asked residents for help locating him. Police initially said they believed Franklin was still somewhere in southeastern Wisconsin and warned anyone who encountered him not to approach him.
The search intensified as the weeks passed. On July 22, investigators released clearer photographs in an effort to generate new leads, but Franklin remained at large. By August 9, the case had been featured as part of a Wisconsin's Most Wanted report, with the U.S. Marshals Service assisting in the search. Investigators said Franklin used the nickname "Little Ron," had connections to Chicago, and was believed to have remained in or around the Racine area. Authorities also said they believed friends or relatives could be helping him avoid capture. The U.S. Marshals appealed directly to the public for information that could lead to his location.
Amie's death left his family searching for both answers and closure. Relatives remembered him as caring, ambitious and someone who enjoyed making other people laugh. One relative described the painful reminders left behind by his death, including an empty room and personal belongings that would never again be used. Four days after the shooting, the Racine Interfaith Coalition held a community prayer vigil, bringing family members, clergy and residents together near the area where the violence occurred. His relatives said he had big dreams and struggled with the knowledge that the person accused of killing him had not yet been taken into custody.
The most recent credible public reporting located through August 2026 continued to describe Franklin as wanted rather than arrested. No trial, guilty plea, conviction or sentence had been reported. The active warrant accuses him of felony murder and attempted armed robbery, but those charges remain unresolved while he is a fugitive. Authorities have continued to seek information about his whereabouts, leaving Amie's family waiting for an arrest and the opportunity for the allegations surrounding his death to be addressed in court.
