On a Thursday afternoon, August 15, 2024, the life of 14-year-old Alijah Golden-Richmond, a Black/African American male, was cut short on the streets of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The incident began near 37th Street when Alijah and a group of friends were involved in an attempt to steal a car. A witness with the group later recounted that after Alijah broke the window of a blue-green Hyundai, they heard a female voice from a nearby building and fled.
The voice belonged to Zariah Johnson, a
22-year-old woman who was at home when she learned her sister's car was being broken into. Armed with her mother's handgun, Johnson got into her sister's vehicle and pursued the fleeing teenagers. As the teens hid on a porch, Johnson reportedly fired a warning shot into the air. When they started running again, she fired several more shots in their direction. One of these bullets struck Alijah in the back. He collapsed a short distance away, near the corner of 39th and Vliet streets. Initially, bystanders who found him believed he was suffering from an overdose and administered Narcan. However, when medical personnel arrived, they discovered the fatal gunshot wound. Alijah was transported to a local hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries.
In the immediate aftermath, Milwaukee police began their investigation, recovering five bullet casings from the scene. The day after the shooting, authorities arrested Zariah Johnson. Two other women, aged 46 and 19, were also taken into custody as persons of interest. During questioning, Johnson initially denied her involvement, placing the blame on a man. However, her story changed after detectives informed her that a witness identified the shooter as a female and that her own mother had named her as the person who fired the gun.
Confronted with this information, Johnson confessed to being the shooter, stating that her only intention was to scare the individuals who had broken into her sister's car and that she never meant to kill anyone. She told investigators that the gravity of her actions became clear when she watched a Facebook Live stream showing the police investigation at the scene where Alijah lay dying. Johnson was subsequently charged with first-degree reckless homicide. She later pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 32 years in prison, with an additional 15 years of extended supervision.
