In the early hours of May 31, 2017, a night out in Milwaukee for 22-year-old Dylan Steffen, a White male, ended in tragedy. After enjoying a comedy show and visiting a few bars with a friend, they were walking near 2nd Street and Lapham Boulevard around 1:00 a.m. when their path was fatefully crossed. A man emerged from a school parking lot and ambushed Steffen’s friend, grabbing him in a headlock while brandishing a gun.
The assailant demanded that the friend follow him into the parking lot and surrender his belongings.
Reacting quickly, the friend managed to break free from the attacker's grasp, and both he and Steffen began to flee. It was in this desperate attempt to escape that a single gunshot rang out. Steffen’s friend turned to see that Dylan had fallen to the sidewalk, struck by the bullet. The shooter had vanished. Though still alive when police arrived, Dylan Steffen was rushed to a hospital where he succumbed to a single gunshot wound to his back.
The investigation into the senseless killing led police to circulate images of a distinctive white four-door Chevrolet Impala with a dark-colored front bumper and quarter panel damage, which had been spotted on surveillance footage arriving in the area moments before the shooting and speeding away shortly after. A crucial tip from a television news viewer led investigators to the owner of the vehicle. The owner informed police that he had been letting an acquaintance, Jermichael Carroll, use the car. Carroll, who had recently been released from prison, had taken the vehicle on the evening of May 30th and had not returned until after midnight.
Based on this information and a positive identification from Steffen’s friend in a photo lineup, police arrested Jermichael Carroll. In November 2019, a jury found Carroll, then 32, guilty of first-degree reckless homicide, use of a dangerous weapon, attempted armed robbery, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. He was later sentenced for his role in the death of Dylan Steffen.
