Brandon Pettis, 30, male, was found shot to death inside a Milwaukee residence on March 29, 2020. Police responding to the scene discovered him with a fatal gunshot wound and classified the case as a domestic-violence-related homicide. A 40-year-old woman was arrested at the scene as investigators began piecing together what had unfolded inside the home.
As detectives worked the case, details emerged that shifted its course.
According to the statewide domestic violence homicide review, the shooting was ultimately determined to be self-defense in the context of domestic abuse, and the woman who had been taken into custody did not face criminal charges. Court records summarized in that report also noted Pettis had a prior history of domestic-abuse-related misdemeanor convictions, and that a domestic abuse restraining order had been filed against him roughly two months earlier but was dismissed because he had not been served.
Independent victim registries later memorialized the loss, recording his name, age, date, and city, underscoring that he died by gun violence in Milwaukee on March 29, 2020. The absence of subsequent charging announcements in local crime databases and press archives aligns with the review’s conclusion that the fatal shooting did not result in prosecution.
