In the early hours of a Wednesday morning in Milwaukee, the life of Deandre Elerson, a 27-year-old African-American male, was irrevocably altered. On July 1, 2009, shortly after 1:30 a.m., Elerson was driving his car with two passengers. They had just left a local nightclub where some kind of altercation had reportedly taken place. As he was attempting to make a U-turn in the 2500 block of North Teutonia Avenue, the night was shattered by the sound of gunfire.
An unknown assailant fired
at least two shots into the vehicle. One of the bullets struck Elerson in the head. In the chaotic moments that followed, one of his uninjured passengers managed to grab the wheel, steering the car for several blocks until it stalled. Emergency services arrived at the scene and rushed Elerson to Froedtert Hospital. Despite medical efforts, he succumbed to his severe injuries and died at about 9 p.m. that evening.
The investigation into the shooting began immediately, but the identity of the person responsible remained a mystery to law enforcement. The Milwaukee Police Department sought information from the public, but no arrests were made in the case. The passengers in Elerson's car were not harmed during the incident. Years later, the case of who shot Deandre Elerson remains unsolved, listed as a cold case by the Milwaukee Police Department, with his killer or killers having never been brought to justice.
