On a summer evening in Sumner, Wisconsin, a gathering meant to honor a life lost turned into the scene of another tragedy. It was August 9, 2022, and 22-year-old Nicolette Satterfield was at a rental home on Lake Drive with others to celebrate the birthday of her late boyfriend, who himself had been killed in a shooting the previous year. The group was eating, drinking, and celebrating his memory throughout the evening.
Around 11:30 p.m., the celebration was shattered by the sound of
gunshots. Inside an upstairs bedroom of the home, Nicolette was shot twice in the back of the head. Panic and screams erupted as people realized what had happened. Witnesses at the party identified the shooter as 16-year-old Daiqwaun Lucas, who was among the guests. In the chaos that followed, some people in the house attempted to restrain Lucas in the garage area, but he managed to get away and began walking down a nearby road.
As deputies rushed to the scene following reports of gunfire, they were told that the suspect had fled on foot. A deputy spotted a male dressed in all red clothing walking along the road and, after confirming the details with those at the house, located and arrested Daiqwaun Lucas. The investigation was quickly classified as a homicide.
In the days that followed, Lucas was charged with first-degree intentional homicide. According to the criminal complaint, his own mother, who was also at the gathering, told investigators she heard two shots and saw people running downstairs, with some saying that her son had killed the victim. A court set his bond at $1 million, and a competency hearing was scheduled. The motive for the shooting was not made clear in the immediate aftermath, leaving a family to grieve and a community to wonder why Nicolette Satterfield's life was cut so tragically short.
