On the morning of June 29, 2015, Ules C. Burks Jr., a 35-year-old African-American man, was shot and killed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, while making what should have been an ordinary trip to a neighborhood store. Burks had left his home and was walking with another young man when gunfire erupted near North 44th Street and West Clarke Street, only a few blocks from where he lived.
The shooting occurred at approximately 9:45 a.m., in a residential neighborhood directly across from Washington High School. Burks suffered fatal gunshot injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene.
The shooting unfolded in broad daylight, leaving neighbors shaken by the violence. Mildred Sinclair, a neighborhood resident, described seeing Burks fall to the ground and calling 911. When she later stepped outside her vehicle, she saw blood on the pavement. Police arrived and secured the surrounding area with crime scene tape while homicide detectives examined the location, nearby yards, homes, and vehicles for evidence. Another witness, Rob Romo, who had been working several houses away, recalled investigators searching the area as young people played basketball across the street. The proximity of the killing to a school made the violence especially disturbing to residents.
Burks' family learned of his death shortly after the shooting. His sister, Carmalethia Craigs, recalled receiving a telephone call around 9:15 or 9:20 that morning informing her that a neighbor had found her brother lying in the street. What began as a routine walk to the store had ended in tragedy, leaving the family struggling to understand why someone had taken his life. Investigators initially reported that the circumstances surrounding the shooting were unclear, and no motive or suspect had been publicly identified.
The killing came during an exceptionally violent stretch in Milwaukee. Burks was the city's fifth homicide victim in just four days, as police investigated several deadly shootings across different neighborhoods. The violence placed additional pressure on investigators and heightened concerns among residents who feared that shootings were becoming an increasingly common occurrence.
As the months passed without an arrest, Burks' family became increasingly frustrated by the lack of answers. By December 2015, more than five months after the killing, investigators had not publicly identified a suspect or established a clear motive. Craigs explained that the family did not know who was responsible, whether the person knew them, or what had prompted the shooting. The uncertainty made an already painful loss even more difficult, particularly as the family faced the daily reality of Burks' absence.
Determined to bring the person responsible to justice, Craigs and her family announced a $5,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction. Craigs had worked long hours to raise the money, hoping the financial incentive would encourage someone with knowledge of the shooting to come forward. She emphasized that she wanted someone to provide information not simply for the reward but because it was the right thing to do. For Craigs, finding her brother's killer had become a personal mission, one she vowed not to abandon.
On December 30, 2015, Burks' family joined relatives of other Milwaukee homicide victims at St. Martin de Porres Church for an annual remembrance ceremony. The names of 145 people killed in Milwaukee that year were read aloud as candles were lit in their memory. For Craigs, hearing her brother's name among the victims was overwhelming. Although the gathering provided comfort through the shared experiences of grieving families, it also underscored the painful reality that many were still waiting for justice. At the time of the ceremony, Burks' killer remained unidentified publicly, and no arrest had been announced.
Available independent news reporting confirms that no one had been arrested in connection with Burks' killing by the end of 2015. No subsequent arrest, criminal charges, trial, or conviction specifically connected to his death could be verified through the publicly accessible reports reviewed. The identity of the person responsible and the motive behind the shooting therefore remain unconfirmed in those sources. For Burks' loved ones, the tragedy was not only the sudden loss of a family member during an ordinary morning but also the unanswered questions surrounding his death and their continuing pursuit of accountability.
