On an April evening in 2014, the life of Anthony Michael Edwards, a 20-year-old Caucasian male, was cut tragically short in his hometown of Kenosha, Wisconsin. On April 14th, Edwards and his cousin arranged to meet two men to sell them marijuana. The planned meeting took place in the area of 58th Street and 11th Avenue, with Edwards behind the wheel of his car and his cousin in the passenger seat.
The situation quickly escalated into a violent confrontation.
Two men, later identified as Joseph-Jamal Brantley and Markese Tibbs, approached the vehicle. An argument broke out, during which Brantley allegedly struck Edwards in the face before producing a handgun. He then demanded the marijuana, reached into the vehicle, and grabbed the bag from Edwards' lap. As Edwards put the car in gear and started to drive away, gunshots were fired. Edwards cried out that he had been shot, hit by a single bullet in his left back. Though gravely wounded, he continued to drive before losing consciousness and crashing his car into a home at the intersection of 65th Street and Sheridan Road, where he was pronounced dead at the scene.
The Kenosha police began an immediate investigation. Footprints left in a patch of fresh snow led them from the scene of the shooting to a nearby apartment on 59th Street. Inside, they found and arrested 22-year-old Joseph-Jamal Brantley and 19-year-old Markese Tibbs. A third individual, Brandon Horak, was also later charged in connection with the crime.
The ensuing legal process brought convictions for those responsible. Joseph-Jamal Brantley was found guilty by a jury on four charges, including first-degree reckless homicide and armed robbery, resulting in a sentence of 23 years in prison. Markese Tibbs pleaded guilty to a felony murder charge and received a 16-year prison sentence. Brandon Horak pleaded no contest to a felony murder charge as well. The case was not without its own controversy; a former Kenosha police officer later admitted to planting evidence, specifically a bullet and Tibbs' ID card, during the investigation, a revelation that added a complex twist to the pursuit of justice for Anthony Edwards.
