On what should have been a festive Christmas morning, a tragedy unfolded in a Milwaukee neighborhood that would forever alter the holiday for two families. Fifteen-year-old Hispanic male, Exziel Rivera, was in a car with 18-year-old Nayah Vasquez near the intersection of South 37th Street and West Scott Street on December 25, 2024. At around 11:25 a.m., their vehicle was ambushed when another car, a black Malibu, approached.
A man leaned out of the Malibu and opened fire into the Kia where Rivera and Vasquez were sitting. After the barrage of bullets, the victims' car rolled forward, striking a parked vehicle before crashing into a tree. Rivera was pronounced dead at the scene, while Vasquez was rushed to a hospital where she later succumbed to her injuries.
The brazen daylight shooting on a quiet holiday morning left the community shaken. Neighbors reported hearing as many as 15 gunshots followed by the sound of the crash. Witnesses saw two males fleeing the scene after the incident. Friends and family, overwhelmed with grief, gathered at the site, remembering Rivera as a kindhearted person with a bright smile who was always there for others. His mother recalled that her son, who loved basketball, video games, and cooking, was supposed to come over later that day to celebrate. The investigation into the double homicide revealed that the victims had reportedly arranged to buy marijuana and were told to wait in their car, leading to the fatal encounter.
The investigation soon led to arrests. Police took two men, aged 18 and 21, into custody shortly after the shooting. The suspects were identified as 18-year-old Quintarez Morris and 18-year-old Jeremiah Taylor. According to the criminal complaint, Morris was the driver of the Malibu, who slowed the car to allow the shooter to fire into the victims' vehicle. Morris was initially charged with harboring or aiding a felon, but the charges were later upgraded to two counts of first-degree reckless homicide. He eventually pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of harboring or aiding a felon after admitting to burning the getaway car in a park following the shooting. He was sentenced to five years in prison.
The alleged shooter, Jeremiah Taylor, was identified by a witness from a photo lineup. He was also charged with two counts of first-degree reckless homicide, but he went on the run, evading capture for months. His time as a fugitive came to an end in July 2025. Following a police chase involving a stolen car in a nearby city, Taylor was apprehended and taken into custody to face charges for the Christmas Day killings. For the family of Exziel Rivera, the arrests marked the first step in a long road toward justice, a small measure of solace in the face of a holiday forever marked by loss.
