In the late hours of May 17, 2014, Eduardo Vital-Cazares, a 40-year-old Hispanic male, was on the porch of his residence in the 1500 block of S. 22nd Street in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. What began as a seemingly ordinary evening took a tragic turn when he was approached by a group of individuals with the intent to rob him.
Surveillance footage from a nearby food mart captured Vital-Cazares at his front door around 11:40 p.m.
Shortly after, four people were seen walking past his home before two of them rushed onto his porch and appeared to attack him. During the course of the attempted robbery, one of the assailants fired a gun, striking Vital-Cazares. He fell back into his house, and the attackers fled the scene. His roommate came to the door, and soon after, police and paramedics arrived. Vital-Cazares was transported to Froedtert Hospital with a gunshot wound to the left side of his head, where he was pronounced dead shortly after midnight on May 18th.
The investigation into the homicide of Eduardo Vital-Cazares led authorities to two suspects: Kelsea Smith and Calvin Clayton. An anonymous tip pointed police in their direction. Further investigation revealed incriminating statements made by Clayton to others, admitting his involvement in the attempted robbery with three other individuals and implicating Smith as the shooter. According to Clayton's account, they had asked Vital-Cazares for a lighter, and as he reached into his pocket, Smith shot him.
A significant breakthrough in the case came on June 15, 2014, when Kelsea Smith was arrested by Oak Creek police on an unrelated charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm. The. 22-caliber revolver found on him at the time of his arrest was sent to the Wisconsin Regional Crime Lab for analysis. Ballistics testing confirmed that it was the same weapon used to kill Vital-Cazares. Furthermore, Smith's DNA was found on the gun. Following the investigation, Kelsea Smith was charged with first-degree reckless homicide by use of a dangerous weapon, and Calvin Clayton was charged with felony murder.
