In the early morning hours of August 25, 2022, emergency services in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, were called to a house fire near 83rd and Vienna. Inside the burning home, firefighters discovered the body of 36-year-old Nikia Rogers, a Black female. While the fire initially appeared to be the cause of death, an autopsy would soon reveal a more violent and deliberate act.
The investigation determined that Rogers had died from multiple gunshot wounds, including one to the head, and her death was ruled a homicide. Investigators found a container of lighter fluid near her body, leading them to believe the fire was intentionally set in an attempt to hide the murder.
The focus of the investigation quickly turned to Rogers' 47-year-old boyfriend, Ernest Terrell Blakney, with whom she lived. Family and friends described a troubled relationship that Rogers was trying to end. Just three weeks before her death, Rogers had told her mother, Angela Burl, that she was making plans to leave Blakney. Despite her mother's concerns, Rogers didn't believe Blakney would physically harm her. An acquaintance of Rogers told police that she had said she wanted to leave Blakney because he was "crazy" and had been in the process of moving her belongings out of the house. In the hours after the fire was discovered, this same acquaintance received chilling text messages from Rogers' phone. One message read, "She dead," and when the acquaintance asked if the sender was "Terrell," Blakney's middle name, the response was, "Yes."
As a manhunt for Blakney began, his disturbing criminal background came to light. Ten days before Rogers' murder, on August 15, 2022, Blakney had pleaded guilty to the second-degree sexual assault of a child from a 2021 case. Prosecutors had argued that he should be taken into custody immediately following his plea, but the judge denied the motion, allowing Blakney to remain free on a $5,000 bail he had posted the previous year. A warrant was issued for his arrest in connection with Rogers' death, with charges including first-degree reckless homicide, attempt mutilating a corpse, and possession of a firearm by a felon. The search for Blakney concluded on September 2, 2022, when police located him. He led officers on a car chase that ended in a confrontation near Juneau and Edison Street, where Blakney was fatally shot by police.
