On the morning of December 6, 2015, Loretta L. Collins, a 19-year-old African-American woman, lost her life in a drive-by shooting on Milwaukee's north side. The violence unfolded at approximately 4:15 a.m. in the 5800 block of North 60th Street, near the intersection of North 60th and West Carmen Avenue. Collins was among those caught in gunfire when individuals inside a passing vehicle opened fire. She sustained fatal injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene.
Another person, a 20-year-old man, was also struck by gunfire and transported to a hospital with injuries that were not considered life-threatening.
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The shooting reportedly occurred as a house party in the neighborhood was coming to an end. According to people who attended a vigil for Collins, the violence may have stemmed from an earlier confrontation involving individuals who had been denied entry to the gathering. Witnesses believed those individuals returned as the party was breaking up and fired shots from a passing vehicle. What had begun as a social gathering ended in tragedy, with Collins described by friends as an innocent bystander caught in the violence. Although witnesses offered this explanation for the shooting, investigators had not publicly established a definitive motive in the initial reports.
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The timing of Collins' death made the loss particularly heartbreaking for those who knew her. She was just three days away from celebrating her 20th birthday. Friends identified her as a young woman associated with Vincent High School and gathered near the shooting location on Sunday evening, December 6, to remember her life. During the vigil, mourners carried birthday balloons, turning what should have been a celebration of another year of life into a memorial for someone whose future had been abruptly taken away.
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Among those speaking at the gathering was Breeana Culpepper, who described how the situation surrounding the party had escalated. Culpepper and others believed the people responsible had returned after being turned away earlier in the evening. Their accounts painted a picture of an unnecessary confrontation that turned deadly, leaving friends and loved ones struggling to understand why Collins had been killed. Her death was recorded as Milwaukee's 139th homicide of 2015, adding to a particularly violent year for the city.
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Milwaukee police launched a homicide investigation and began searching for the people responsible for firing into the area from the passing vehicle. Investigators were also attempting to determine the motive and circumstances that led to the shooting. The involvement of multiple suspects was reported, but the publicly available initial accounts did not identify the occupants of the vehicle or establish who fired the fatal shots. The reports also did not indicate whether Collins had been deliberately targeted, and the accounts from those attending the vigil suggested she had been an unintended victim.
Despite the circumstances described by witnesses, no subsequent arrest, criminal charge, trial, or conviction specifically connected to Collins' killing could be verified in the available reporting. No publicly confirmed suspect names or final investigative findings were located. As a result, the available information does not establish whether investigators eventually identified those responsible or whether anyone was prosecuted for her death.
Collins' life ended only days before a milestone birthday, leaving behind grieving loved ones and a community troubled by another act of gun violence. The birthday balloons displayed at her vigil became a poignant reminder of the celebration she never had the opportunity to experience. Years later, the publicly documented circumstances of her death continue to leave an important question unanswered: who was responsible for the gunfire that killed Loretta Collins on that December morning?
