Man who was on GPS monitoring when prosecutors say he killed a man pleads guilty

Jody Byrd



MILWAUKEE -- Jody Byrd, 26, of Milwaukee, pleaded guilty to two charges Wednesday, Oct. 30 in connection with the Oct. 30 shooting death of Clarence Perkins. It happened near Auer Avenue and Buffum Street on Oct. 23, 2018.

Byrd entered the plea to amended charges -- one count of second-degree reckless homicide, habitual criminality repeater, use of a dangerous weapon, as party to a crime, and one count of possession of a firearm by a person convicted of a felony, habitual criminality repeater.

Sentencing was scheduled for Dec. 19.

According to the criminal complaint, police were dispatched to a home on Auer near Buffum -- and discovered the victim, Perkins, in the rear doorway of a residence. Perkins suffered multiple gunshot wounds, was taken to Froedtert Hospital, and later died from his wounds.

Shooting near Buffum and Auer



A detective on the scene recovered three fired cartridge casings as well as two fired bullets.

A witness to the shooting spoke to police. He indicated "the victim was seated on a couch" when Byrd came into the residence. The witness said Byrd "started yelling at the victim that he was going to 'knock out' the victim." At that point, the witness told investigators Byrd "reached into his right rear pocket and pulled out a .380 caliber handgun." The witness then saw Byrd fire one shot at the victim. As he ran to get his daughter to safety, the witness told police "he heard two or three more shots."

Shooting near Buffum and Auer



The complaint indicated Byrd was convicted in Nov. 2010 of second-degree sexual assault of a child. He is also on GPS bracelet monitoring -- and a "check of the GPS data from his bracelet showed he was in proximity of (the shooting scene) on the date and time of the homicide of Clarence Perkins."