In the quiet, pre-dawn hours of a Tuesday in Milwaukee, the life of LaShonda Shumpert, a 47-year-old Black/African American woman, was brought to a violent and sudden end. On June 25, 2024, Shumpert was at her home near 42nd and Florist, speaking on the phone with one of her daughters. A knock came at the front door around 3:00 in the morning. When she opened it, a barrage of gunfire erupted, striking her where she stood.
Some of her grandchildren were inside the residence at the time of the shooting but were not physically harmed.
Emergency services arrived at the scene shortly after 3:30 a.m. and attempted life-saving measures, but Shumpert succumbed to her injuries. The front of her home bore the scars of the brutal attack, with investigators finding numerous bullet strikes on the front door and its frame. In total, police recovered 27 spent 9mm cartridge casings, all determined to have been fired from a single weapon. Her family, devastated by the loss, described her as a fun-loving mother of six and grandmother to eighteen who enjoyed singing and did not bother anyone. They were left grappling with the question of why anyone would target the beloved matriarch of their family.
The investigation into the homicide led Milwaukee police to a suspect, James Edwards, a 32-year-old man from Menasha. Evidence gathered included security camera footage that captured a suspect vehicle near the scene and an individual walking toward Shumpert's home, followed by the sight of muzzle flashes. Fingerprints recovered from the suspect's vehicle were identified as belonging to Edwards. He was subsequently arrested and charged with first-degree reckless homicide and possession of a firearm by a felon. A potential motive for the killing emerged from court documents, which indicated that Edwards's cousin had been the victim of a homicide in which LaShonda Shumpert's son was the primary suspect, suggesting the fatal shooting may have been an act of retaliation. Edwards appeared in court where his bond was set at $200,000.
