In the early morning hours of September 22, 2019, a tragic event unfolded inside a duplex in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, ending the life of 29-year-old Black / African American female Velencia Spears. Police were first called to the residence near 55th and Keefe around 4:50 a.m. for a report of an attempted break-in at the upper unit of the building. When officers arrived, they discovered a shotgun shell lying on the front lawn.
The door to the lower unit was slightly open, a silent invitation to the grim scene within.
Inside, officers found Velencia Spears on the floor, having sustained multiple gunshot wounds. An autopsy would later confirm that she had been shot in the head, wrist, and cheek, and her death was officially ruled a homicide. The investigation into her death quickly pointed to a suspect, a 26-year-old man named Javontrae Price. The case was connected to domestic abuse. Shortly before police were dispatched to the scene, Price's own father had called 911 to report that his son had shot someone, directing authorities to where the weapon, a pistol-grip shotgun with what appeared to be blood on it, could be found.
The tragic story continued to unfold as Javontrae Price, accompanied by his family, walked into the Milwaukee Police Department's District 4 station around 5 a.m. and reportedly confessed to the desk sergeant, stating something to the effect of, "I shot my girlfriend on 55th Street." Price was immediately arrested and subsequently charged with first-degree reckless homicide with a domestic abuse modifier. In February 2020, Price pleaded guilty to the charge of first-degree reckless homicide. By November of that year, he was sentenced for the crime. A judge ordered him to serve 25 years in prison, which will be followed by 12 years of extended supervision, bringing a legal conclusion to the violent end of a young mother's life.
