On the warm summer evening of August 7, 2013, Sheresa Shay Moore, a 26-year-old African-American female, was going about a routine task that would tragically be her last. A local rap artist in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, she had just left a studio session and stopped at a Citgo gas station at the corner of Sherman and Capitol to refuel her car. The time was approximately 10:40 p.m., and as she stood by her vehicle at pump number two, a man approached her.
Surveillance footage from the gas
station captured the harrowing moments that followed. As the man drew near, Sheresa appeared to back away from him. Despite her lack of resistance, the assailant callously shot her once in the abdomen. As she fell to the ground, the man took her keys, got into her car, and sped away from the scene. Sheresa was still conscious when help arrived, able to tell officers that someone had taken her vehicle. She was rushed to a nearby hospital, but the single gunshot wound proved to be fatal. A couple of hours later, her car was discovered a few blocks away, completely engulfed in flames in an act of arson.
The senseless and random nature of Sheresa's murder sent shockwaves through the Milwaukee community, which was already grappling with a recent spike in violent crime. In the days that followed, an outpouring of grief and frustration materialized into action. Over 100 people gathered for a vigil at the gas station where she was killed, marching and pleading for an end to the violence that had claimed a young life. Her family remembered her as a creative spirit on her way home to continue her passion for music.
The investigation into her death led authorities to identify a primary suspect: Byron Lathan. A criminal complaint was filed, and an arrest warrant was issued, charging Lathan with multiple criminal counts in connection with the shooting and carjacking. For several years, however, Lathan remained at large, his whereabouts unknown. Eventually, he was apprehended, but the journey to justice took an unexpected turn. Court records indicate that the first-degree reckless homicide charges against him were later dropped. In September 2023, Byron Lathan, then 34, pleaded no contest to arson for setting Sheresa's car on fire. He was sentenced to serve 11 months in the Milwaukee County Community Reintegration Center.
