On a warm Fourth of July evening in 2015, a celebration at a house party in Milwaukee turned into a scene of violence, leaving 31-year-old Mario Dancer, a male, dead. The festivities, filled with the sounds of neighbors setting off fireworks, took a dark turn in the 8100 block of West Glen Avenue. It was there that Dancer was discovered with a gunshot wound to his head.
Despite having a pulse and breathing when police arrived, and efforts by an officer and subsequently firefighters to save him, he was pronounced dead at the hospital.
The immediate aftermath of the shooting was chaotic, with attempts to obscure the truth of what had transpired. Witnesses reported hearing that the shooting was a "drive-by," a narrative that was quickly contradicted by emerging accounts. A child ran into the house announcing that someone had been shot, followed by a woman yelling, "He's been shot! Rod shot him!" This pointed to a suspect who was present at the gathering.
The investigation led to charges against two brothers, 21-year-old Roderick Leblanc and 25-year-old Dumar Leblanc. Roderick was charged with first-degree reckless homicide. Witnesses stated that after the gunshot, Roderick entered the house with a pistol in his hand, appearing "all pumped up" and yelling statements that implicated himself in the shooting.
His older brother, Dumar, was charged with battery and threatening a witness. In the moments following the shooting, Dumar allegedly instructed everyone at the party to tell the police it was a drive-by shooting. When Dancer's stepfather declared his intention to tell the truth, stating that Dancer "didn't deserve that," Dumar reportedly grabbed him by the throat, pushed him against a wall, and threatened to kill him if he implicated his brother. An arrest warrant was issued for Roderick Leblanc following the charges.
