On a late summer evening in 2016, a family dispute in the Village of Brown Deer, a suburb of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, turned deadly, claiming the life of 21-year-old Nix Franklin Jr., a Black / African American male. The tragic events unfolded on September 12th, inside the apartment where his mother resided. Nix was visiting his mother when an argument erupted between him and his mother's 61-year-old friend, Jessie James.
The disagreement reportedly stemmed from James feeling disrespected
by the younger man. The verbal altercation escalated dramatically when James retrieved a 12-gauge shotgun. Despite Franklin's reported disbelief that James would actually use the weapon, James fired a single shot, striking Franklin in the abdomen. His mother immediately called for help, telling dispatchers that her boyfriend had just shot her son. When police arrived at the apartment, they found Nix Franklin Jr. suffering from the gunshot wound. He was transported to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead.
As Jessie James exited the apartment, he was heard saying, "I can't believe I shot him." He was taken into custody at the scene. Investigators recovered the shotgun and a box of unspent shells from the residence. James later admitted to detectives that he shot Franklin because he felt he was being disrespected in his own home. He stated that Franklin had been staying with them for about a week and that a verbal argument had ensued earlier that evening.
In the wake of the shooting, Jessie James was charged with second-degree reckless homicide with the use of a dangerous weapon. In December of 2016, he pleaded guilty to the charge. A judge subsequently sentenced him to 20 years in prison, to be followed by 10 years of extended supervision. The tragic death of Nix Franklin Jr. echoed a painful chapter from his family's past; his father, Mannix Franklin Sr., had been shot and killed by Milwaukee police in 2003.
