In the early hours of a Sunday morning in Milwaukee, on April 24, 2016, Chaabane Tandji, a 39-year-old man, was working at Tanji Foods, a grocery store owned by a relative of his on North Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive. His life was cut tragically short when two individuals entered the store to commit a robbery. The only items taken were cigarettes. During the commission of the crime, Mr.
Tandji was fatally shot.
The Milwaukee Police Department launched a homicide investigation and through their work, they quickly identified a 27-year-old man and a 22-year-old woman as suspects. The individuals, Terrance Maurice Hutchinson and Shannon P. Carson-Quinn, were former employees of the store. Store security footage captured the horrific event, showing the male suspect pointing a pistol at Tandji and shooting him in the back. The video further depicted the gunman standing over the victim, going through his pockets after he had stopped moving, and then leaving the store with his female accomplice. Both suspects were located and arrested.
In the days following the senseless act, Chaabane Tandji's family mourned the loss of a man described as a hardworking and loving husband and father. His wife, Antoinette Tandji, expressed the immense void his murder left in their family and the community, calling the crime unnecessary and heinous. His cousin, Khaled Tanji, spoke of the family's disbelief and profound grief.
The legal process brought charges of first-degree intentional homicide against both Hutchinson and Carson-Quinn. Shannon Carson-Quinn eventually pleaded guilty to felony murder-armed robbery and was sentenced to 20 years in prison with five years of extended supervision. Terrance Hutchinson pleaded guilty to first-degree intentional homicide, use of a dangerous weapon, as a party to a crime. The investigation revealed that both had been fired by Tandji's cousin after he had purchased the store from Tandji.
