On a winter afternoon, a dispute between two young men over a girlfriend escalated into a tragedy that claimed the life of 19-year-old Hispanic male, Jovanni Frausto. The fatal encounter unfolded on January 31, 2021, inside the bustling food court of the Fox River Mall in Grand Chute, a suburb of Appleton, Wisconsin. Frausto was shot in the chest and, despite being rushed to a nearby hospital, succumbed to his injuries. The shooting also resulted in a bystander, Colt Lemmers, being wounded.
The immediate aftermath of the shooting sent shoppers scrambling for safety as law enforcement descended upon the mall. The suspect, identified as 17-year-old Dezman Ellis of Oshkosh, fled the scene in a car with friends, sparking a multi-day manhunt. Authorities located the vehicle in Oshkosh, but Ellis remained at large. The search for Ellis extended beyond Wisconsin, and he was eventually apprehended days later in Des Moines, Iowa. Following his arrest, Ellis was extradited back to Wisconsin to face charges.
In the ensuing legal proceedings, Dezman Ellis was charged with first-degree intentional homicide and first-degree recklessly endangering safety. He later entered no-contest pleas to amended charges of second-degree intentional homicide and first-degree reckless endangering safety. The court learned that the confrontation between Ellis and Frausto stemmed from a dispute concerning a young woman. On February 1, 2022, a year after the shooting, a judge sentenced Ellis to 40 years in prison for his role in the death of Jovanni Frausto.
