Jeremy West

On a Thanksgiving morning that should have been filled with warmth and family, a tragedy unfolded in Milwaukee, forever altering the lives of those involved. Inside an apartment near 24th and Wells, 17-year-old Al-Jevon Wilkins, an African-American male, was asleep on a futon with his girlfriend. The sense of peace was shattered when the young woman awoke to a horrifying scene: her ex-boyfriend, 18-year-old Elijah Dent, was standing over them.

The unlocked apartment door had provided easy ...