Vanessa Rheanne DeHerrera, a 26-year-old White/Caucasian woman, was killed on August 8, 2026, inside an apartment at the Knitting Factory Lofts near West Pierce and South 21st streets in Milwaukee. She was the parent of two young boys and, according to her family, had been trying to separate from an on-and-off partner, Thomas Seville Zollicoffer. Court records describe Zollicoffer as her former live-in boyfriend. DeHerrera had been staying at a friend's apartment for several days before the shooting, and Milwaukee police subsequently described the double homicide that claimed her life and the life of her friend Scott Bucholz as domestic-violence related.
According to the criminal complaint, several people were gathered at the apartment during the afternoon. Zollicoffer arrived at about 4:00 p.m. and began arguing with DeHerrera. Witnesses described him as hostile toward her, and investigators were told that he accused her of being involved with other men, including Bucholz. At one point Zollicoffer handed a small black semiautomatic handgun to the apartment resident and asked that it be placed in a bedroom. Roughly half an hour before the killings, he said he was leaving and asked for the firearm back. Instead of departing, however, witnesses said he sat down again and continued drinking alcohol.
The confrontation suddenly became deadly shortly before 9:45 p.m. One witness told detectives that he saw Zollicoffer pointing the firearm at DeHerrera and heard him say words to the effect of, "I told you to quit playing with me," before firing at her. The witness said Zollicoffer fired several shots before turning the weapon toward others seated on the couch and firing again. Another person in the apartment reported hearing an initial gunshot followed by four more shots and retreated into a bedroom as someone repeatedly said that DeHerrera had been shot. Bucholz was also struck by the gunfire.
Milwaukee police officers were dispatched to the apartment at approximately 9:44 p.m. and found several frightened occupants hiding inside a bedroom. DeHerrera was found on the floor near an open bedroom, while Bucholz was on the couch. Both were unresponsive, and efforts to save them were unsuccessful. They were pronounced dead at the scene. An autopsy later determined that DeHerrera had suffered multiple gunshot wounds, including two wounds to the head and another to the left side of her chest, and those injuries were determined to be the cause of her death. Investigators recovered six spent 9mm cartridge casings and documented a bullet strike to a bedroom door.
The violence did not end at the Pierce Street apartment. Approximately 25 minutes later, another shooting occurred at a residence on North 39th Street, where Shamarla "Asir" Hare was fatally shot. Witnesses there also identified Zollicoffer as the gunman. Investigators began connecting the two scenes through witness accounts, surveillance recordings, vehicle information, cellphone-location evidence and ballistics. Preliminary cellphone data placed Zollicoffer's phone in the areas of both homicide scenes at the relevant times, and preliminary firearm testing later indicated that the 9mm pistol recovered when he was arrested had fired casings found at both locations.
Police tracked Zollicoffer to a residence near North 84th Street and West Fiebrantz Avenue on August 11. Officers surrounded the house, and what followed developed into a standoff involving tactical officers and crisis negotiators. Before eventually coming outside, Zollicoffer tossed two loaded firearms onto the pavement: a Taurus G2C 9mm pistol and a Ruger LCP II. 22-caliber pistol. He was then taken into custody. Investigators subsequently linked the recovered 9mm pistol to cartridge casings from both homicide scenes through preliminary ballistic testing.
During a Mirandized interview the following day, investigators said Zollicoffer initially claimed that Bucholz had produced a gun and shot DeHerrera. His account changed during the questioning. According to the criminal complaint, he eventually said that he had not intended to kill DeHerrera and claimed that he only meant to wound her, but then said he "lost it" and shot her in the head. He also admitted shooting Bucholz, according to investigators. Zollicoffer further acknowledged traveling to the city's north side after leaving the first shooting scene and admitted shooting Hare as well.
Milwaukee County prosecutors charged Zollicoffer with seven felonies: three counts of first-degree intentional homicide and four counts of possession of a firearm by a felon. The homicide charge involving DeHerrera alleges that he intentionally caused her death at the Pierce Street apartment. Each first-degree intentional homicide count is a Class A felony carrying a life sentence upon conviction, while each felon-in-possession count carries a potential sentence of up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $25,000. He remains accused rather than convicted, and the allegations against him will ultimately have to be proven in court.
The case also resulted in charges against people prosecutors allege assisted Zollicoffer during or after the killings. Sengchanh Phengphonsavanh was charged with harboring or aiding a felon after prosecutors alleged that he drove Zollicoffer from the area of the Pierce Street killings to the location connected to the second homicide. Elena Cole, whose residence was where Zollicoffer was ultimately captured, was charged with harboring or aiding a felon as well as three child-neglect counts. Authorities alleged that Cole knew Zollicoffer had admitted killing people but nevertheless allowed him to remain at her residence and left her children there with him while police were searching for him. By August 28, Cole had posted a $5,000 bond and been released, while Phengphonsavanh remained jailed on a $25,000 bond and a corrections hold.
Zollicoffer's own case continued moving toward trial. A court commissioner set his cash bond at $1 million, and following a preliminary hearing on August 24, he was bound over for trial. A Milwaukee police homicide detective testified that investigators had multiple witnesses, ballistic evidence and cartridge casings that matched the firearm recovered during Zollicoffer's arrest. The prosecution later raised an additional concern that Zollicoffer had attempted to influence or intimidate witnesses from jail. Court filings alleged that he used a jail-issued communication device to send messages concerning a witness who had been present during the Pierce Street killings.
On August 28, Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge David Borowski revoked nearly all of Zollicoffer's jail communication privileges except communications with his attorney. The judge also imposed protections intended to keep identifying information about witnesses from reaching him after prosecutors presented allegations of attempted witness interference. Zollicoffer remained jailed on the $1 million bond, and his triple-homicide trial was scheduled to begin November 16, 2026. As of the end of August, there had been no trial or conviction in DeHerrera's killing, but the investigation had progressed from a domestic-violence double homicide and citywide manhunt to a prosecution supported by eyewitness accounts, forensic evidence, cellphone information, Zollicoffer's alleged admissions and the firearm evidence recovered when he was captured.
