In the autumn of 2016, a single act of violence abruptly ended the life of a young woman in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Britany N. Jackson, a 26-year-old Black / African American female, was fatally shot on October 18, 2016. The incident that led to her death began when police were called to the vicinity of 76th and Grantosa to investigate a shooting. There, they discovered a pickup truck with two occupants, one of whom was Jackson. She was found without a pulse, and despite lifesaving efforts, she was pronounced dead at the scene from multiple gunshot wounds.
The investigation into the shooting led police to an alley near 70th and Capitol Drive, where they found eight 9mm casings, indicating the location of the violent encounter. The other individual in the truck with Jackson had also sustained a gunshot wound but was able to inform the police that the shooting had occurred in that area. The events that transpired on that fateful day were not a random act of violence but one with a known perpetrator.
The suspect, 27-year-old Deruntae Mason, was taken into custody and subsequently charged with first-degree reckless homicide. Mason, who had known Jackson for a couple of years, admitted to the crime. According to the criminal complaint, on October 17th, Mason went to meet Jackson near 70th and Villard. Upon seeing her in the passenger seat of the truck, he approached the vehicle with a semi-automatic handgun and fired approximately six shots into it. After the shooting, he even attempted to follow the truck. If convicted, Mason faced a potential sentence of up to 60 years in prison.
