Kazzie Ference, a 44-year-old mother and grandmother, was remembered by loved ones as a positive, bubbly person who had earned her master's degree and owned her own home in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Her family described her as an amazing person who was deeply loved. She was a dedicated mother to eight children, six of whom were minors and one with special needs, and also served as a caretaker for her own mother.
Her cousin, Ebony Ford, recalled, "I don't ever remember her frowning, I can't remember a moment of her being angry or hostile."
The peace of Ference's home on the northwest side of Milwaukee was shattered in the early morning hours of Saturday, October 10, 2026. Earlier that day, Ference had been arguing with her estranged boyfriend, 41-year-old Tavarris Jones, and had told him to leave her residence near North 77th Street and West Carmen Avenue, taking back his house key. Later that night, after Ference had gone on a date with another man, Jones allegedly returned. Prosecutors state he gained entry to the home by removing an air conditioner from a window.
Several of Ference's children were inside the house at the time. According to a criminal complaint, Ference's 9-year-old daughter witnessed the horrific events that followed. The child told police she saw her father, Jones, point a gun at her mother's head and shoot her. She reported hearing him say, "That what you get for cheat on me," and "you not gonna cheat on me no more cus you dead." Another daughter, who was sleeping, was awakened by two loud bangs. Frightened, she initially stayed in her room but eventually went to check on her mother, finding her unresponsive on the couch and bleeding heavily. She called 911 around 2:36 a.m. to say, "My momma got shot."
Milwaukee Police officers arrived at the home at approximately 2:38 a.m. and were let inside by three of the children. Despite lifesaving efforts from police and the Milwaukee Fire Department, Kazzie Ference was pronounced dead at the scene from multiple gunshot wounds to her head and neck. Investigators found two brass bullet casings near her body. Video evidence provided by one of the children showed Jones leaving the residence around 1:50 a.m.
Police arrested Tavarris Jones in connection with the shooting, which they classified as domestic violence-related. He was charged with first-degree intentional homicide with the use of a dangerous weapon and domestic abuse modifiers. A lifelong friend, Ty Edwards, said Ference had been trying to get away from Jones, whom she described as a "tyrant." Edwards stated that Jones had repeatedly threatened and screamed at Ference in front of the children when she asked him to leave her home. Ference's aunt, Kim Matlock, said, "The only thing she did was love the wrong man, she backed him up for twelve years until she feel like she couldn't do it no more."
On October 14, 2026, Jones made his initial court appearance. His cash bail was set at $500,000, and he was ordered to have no contact with anyone named in the complaint. He was being held at the Milwaukee County Jail pending a preliminary hearing scheduled for October 20. If convicted of the first-degree homicide charge, Jones faces a mandatory life sentence in prison.
In the wake of the tragedy, family and friends gathered for a vigil outside Ference's home on Monday, October 12, to mourn and remember her. "This is just a tragic loss, words can’t even -- I really don’t have the words to explain the void, the frustration, and to be honest, the anger," her cousin Jerome Bell said. Ference's son, Timothy Armstrong, started a GoFundMe campaign to help with funeral expenses and the immense cost of caring for his seven siblings. "She mattered, and her life should not have ended this way," Armstrong wrote. "Our family is trying to process this devastating loss while also facing the painful reality of laying her to rest and caring for the children she leaves behind." As of October 2026, the case against Tavarris Jones was proceeding through the court system.
