Woman facing charges after allegedly stabbing, fatally shooting man near 53rd and Hampton

MILWAUKEE -- A Milwaukee woman is facing charges after allegedly stabbing and shooting a man on August 4. Gina Johnson is being charged with one count of second-degree reckless homicide, use of a dangerous weapon. A criminal complaint detailed Markel Johnson's death.

In a criminal complaint, a witness familiar with both Gina Johnson and Markel Johnson provided their account of the incident to police.

The witness says they were inside Life Bar, which is across the street from where the homicide took place, when the witness saw Johnson and the victim in a heated argument. The witness told police that the victim was in Johnson's "face" and that the witness and other bar patrons tried to break them up.

Later, the witness saw Johnson and the victim arguing by the bathroom, so the witness went to tell the victim he should leave. At this point, the witness saw that Johnson had an open knife in her hand. The witness stated that the bar workers then told Johnson and the victim that they had to leave, so the defendant put her knife back in her purse.

The witness said that as the two were leaving, Johnson made another comment to the victim and approached the victim in an aggressive manner. The witness then said the couple were fighting, exchanging profanities. The two were then asked to leave the bar.

Later, the witness also left the bar and saw Johnson and the victim outside arguing. When a bar patron told the two not to fight, Johnson said "You ain't got nothing to do with this. This is between me and him." The two then walked across the street together to the victim's small SUV.

The witness then heard a yell and looked in the direction of Johnson and the victim, who were across the street. The witness saw the two "squared off" to fight each other, while Johnson had her knife out in right hand. Johnson then made a swinging/stabbing motion and saw the victim dodge in an attempt to avoid being stabbed. The witness said that after the Johnson stabbed the victim, the victim then punched Johnson.

The witness then ran over and tried to get between Johnson and the victim. At this point, the victim told the witness that Johnson had stabbed him.

The witness then turned around and saw Johnson reach into the storage compartment of her SUV and pull out a handgun and say, "Is this what you want?" The witness indicated that the defendant then stood up on her "tippy toes" and fired two shots over the roof of the SUV. The witness indicated that after firing the shots, Johnson got into her SUV and drove off.

Johnson admitted to being in an argument with the victim, stabbing him and shooting him. She said that after the altercation inside the bar, she and the victim were arguing in the street by her SUV. Johnson said the victim became aggressive and was punching her. Johnson said at that time, she stabbed the victim at least once, and then people came over from the bar to try and stop the fight.