In a quiet Milwaukee neighborhood, the stillness of a Sunday afternoon was shattered by a grim discovery that would unravel a story of betrayal and violence. On January 23, 2022, police responded to a welfare check at a duplex on North 21st Street. What they found inside was a scene of unimaginable horror. Six individuals, including 23-year-old Caleb Jordan, a Black / African American male, had been shot and killed.
The other victims were identified as Michelle Williams, 49; Donta Williams, 44; Donald Smith, 43; Charles Hardy, 42; and Javoni Liddell, 31. The discovery of the six victims, some found in the basement and others upstairs, launched an intense homicide investigation as a community grappled with the senseless loss of life.
The initial stages of the investigation were fraught with questions and a search for unknown suspects. A perplexing clue emerged in the form of a 911 call made approximately 12 hours before the bodies were found. The female caller claimed she and several others had been shot, providing two different addresses in the vicinity, though neither was the exact location of the duplex. This mysterious call added another layer of complexity for detectives working to piece together the events that led to the six deaths. In the days that followed, police took four persons of interest into custody, but they were later released without charges, leaving the case open and the community on edge.
A significant breakthrough came months later, in June 2022, with the arrest of 34-year-old Travis Lamar Birkley. Investigators were led to Birkley through a crucial piece of evidence left at the scene: a cell phone. Tracing the phone's activity, they uncovered a chilling digital trail. Birkley had reportedly taken a selfie in the basement of the home where three of the victims were later found. According to witnesses, Birkley had acted as "security" for drug deals that occurred at the residence. The alleged motive for the killings was robbery. A witness informed police that Birkley and his cousin had gone to the house with the intention of robbing one of the residents. When the robbery attempt was met with resistance, the situation escalated, resulting in the fatal shootings of all six individuals present to eliminate any witnesses. Birkley was subsequently charged with six counts of felony murder.
