Earnest Dontail Lindsey Jr., a 26-year-old African-American man, lost his life on Saturday, October 15, 2016, following a shooting in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Born on January 3, 1990, he was the son of the late Earnest Dontail Lindsey Sr. and Frankie Lachelle Lee-Lindsey Cameron. Although he was living in Milwaukee at the time of his death, his family maintained strong connections to Mississippi, where many of his relatives resided.
His sudden death left behind his mother, stepfather, nine brothers, seven sisters, and numerous other relatives and friends.
On the evening of October 15, shortly before 10:00 p.m., gunfire erupted in the 6600 block of West Lisbon Avenue, near North 66th Street on Milwaukee's northwest side. Two individuals were struck by gunfire during the incident. As emergency responders began investigating the shooting, they discovered that one victim had managed to leave the immediate area in search of assistance, while the other remained at the scene.
A second victim, who was 21 years old, had been wounded during the same incident but managed to drive to the intersection of North 67th Street and West Center Street, where he called for help. Emergency personnel transported him to a local hospital for treatment of injuries that authorities described as non-life-threatening. Meanwhile, police discovered Lindsey lying in an alley near the original shooting location, suffering from a critical gunshot wound.
Milwaukee police officers and Milwaukee Fire Department personnel attempted lifesaving measures after locating Lindsey. Despite their efforts, his injuries proved fatal, and he was pronounced dead at the scene. Investigators began examining the circumstances surrounding the gunfire, attempting to determine what had occurred in the moments leading up to the shooting and who was responsible. Authorities did not immediately disclose whether the victims had been specifically targeted, whether an argument or confrontation preceded the gunfire, or whether the shooting resulted from another criminal incident.
The violence occurred during an especially troubling weekend in Milwaukee. Between Saturday, October 15, and Monday, October 17, authorities investigated numerous shootings throughout the city, leaving at least nine people wounded by gunfire, including two who died. Another fatal shooting occurred near North 38th Street and West Meinecke Avenue, where Ronnie McMillon Jr. was killed in a separate incident. Police arrested a suspect in McMillon's death, but that arrest was unrelated to Lindsey's shooting. At the time of the initial reports, investigators continued searching for the person or persons responsible for Lindsey's death.
As the investigation progressed, publicly available reporting provided few additional details about the circumstances surrounding Lindsey's shooting. Authorities had not publicly identified a suspect in the initial coverage, and no confirmed motive was disclosed. Available reports do not establish whether investigators recovered a firearm, identified eyewitnesses, obtained surveillance footage, or determined what led to the confrontation. Although another individual survived the shooting, the available accounts do not reveal whether his statements helped investigators identify those responsible.
There is also a discrepancy in the publicly available descriptions of Lindsey's death. His obituary described his passing as resulting from an accident, while contemporaneous police reporting described a fatal shooting under investigation as a homicide. Milwaukee's 2016 Homicide Review Commission annual report also included his name among those who lost their lives to violence. The available information does not explain the discrepancy or establish whether investigators subsequently changed their findings regarding the circumstances of his death.
Following his death, Lindsey's family made arrangements to return him to Mississippi for his final services. Visitation was held on Friday, October 21, 2016, at Serenity-Autry Funeral Home in Pontotoc, Mississippi. His funeral followed on Saturday, October 22, at Good Shepherd Church on Bolton Street in Pontotoc. He was laid to rest at Pontotoc City Cemetery, surrounded by the memories of a large family whose lives had been deeply affected by his passing.
Despite the initial investigation, no subsequent publicly verifiable information was located identifying an individual arrested or formally charged in connection with Lindsey's death. Likewise, no confirmed court proceedings, criminal trial, guilty plea, or conviction could be established from the available reporting. Whether authorities ultimately determined exactly how the shooting occurred remains unclear. What is documented is that Lindsey's life ended following gunfire on a Saturday night in Milwaukee, leaving a grieving family in Wisconsin and Mississippi searching for understanding after an unexpected and devastating loss.
