On a cold February night in 2015, the life of 22-year-old Desha Robertson, a Black male, was tragically cut short inside a Milwaukee tavern. The events unfolded in the early hours of February 8th at the New Entertainers Lounge on West Green Tree Road. Robertson was a customer at the bar and was reportedly on his way out of the establishment when violence erupted.
Without any apparent reason, another patron, Pierre Cardell Brown, who was 30 years old at the time, pulled out a firearm.
As Robertson was walking towards the exit, Brown opened fire in the enclosed entryway of the bar. Robertson was struck by the gunfire, as was 38-year-old Terrance Anderson, who was at the lounge helping his brother, the owner. Both men sustained fatal injuries in the sudden attack.
The aftermath of the shooting led to an investigation that identified Pierre Cardell Brown as the gunman. Surveillance video from inside the tavern captured the moments leading up to the fatal shootings, showing Brown reaching for his weapon as Robertson walked ahead of him toward the door, and then turning to fire at Anderson. Brown was subsequently arrested and faced legal consequences for his actions.
Initially charged with first-degree reckless homicide, Brown later pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree reckless homicide as part of a plea agreement. In March 2016, a Milwaukee County judge sentenced him to 34 years in prison, to be followed by 20 years of supervised release. During the sentencing, the court heard about the profound and lasting devastation experienced by the families of both Desha Robertson and Terrance Anderson, who were senselessly killed that night.
