In March 2023, the life of Brandon Felton, a 34-year-old Black man from Milwaukee, was cut short by violence in his own home. His cousin discovered his body on March 18, after not hearing from him for several days. An autopsy determined Felton had been killed on or around March 15 by a single gunshot wound to the head at his residence near 38th and Townsend.
Investigators at the scene found a critical clue that would unravel the case: a Domino's Pizza receipt dated March 15, which lay
near a spent shell casing. The receipt contained a phone number that police traced to a 12-year-old boy who lived in the neighborhood. The boy knew Felton, and the two sometimes played video games together.
When questioned, the boy’s story changed multiple times. He first denied ordering the pizza or being at Felton’s home. He then claimed he was there but that a fictional friend of Felton's named "Sam" had committed the murder and stolen an AR-15 rifle and a shotgun. The boy's mother, however, later returned to the police department and told them her son had lied out of fear. She revealed that the boy and his friends had gone to Felton's home to buy his guns.
A search of the 12-year-old’s phone uncovered a digital trail that supported a premeditated plan. Nearly a week before the killing, the boy had texted a friend about robbing Felton of his firearms, even dropping a location pin on Felton’s residence. On the day of the murder, the texts grew more chilling, with the boy writing to a friend, "Or should I kill him...(right now)," and "He on the couch laying down...Cuz I can belt him (right now)." Investigators believe the boy shot Felton after the man refused to sell him the weapons.
The 12-year-old was arrested and charged as an adult with first-degree intentional homicide, with his bail set at $100,000. The investigation also led to charges against two of his friends. Damarios Thomas and Demarione Jones, both 17, were also charged as adults with receiving the stolen firearms.
Prosecutors stated that Thomas was the friend who exchanged texts with the 12-year-old just before the killing, telling him, "Don’t let him know we coming." After the shooting, Thomas and another minor allegedly picked up the 12-year-old and drove to Jones's home, where they brought the stolen guns inside. As of April 2023, all three teenagers were proceeding through the court system.
