2022 Milwaukee homicides, arson; man now charged, wanted

MILWAUKEE - A Milwaukee man is now charged and wanted for a 2022 shooting that killed two people, as well as arson that happened on the same day.

Prosecutors said 32-year-old Randy Moore was taken into custody in the days that followed the killings. However, he was not charged at that time, and court records show a warrant has been issued for his arrest. 

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Homicides

The backstory:

Police were called to the area of 37th and Roberts, just east of Washington Park, at around 11:15 p.m. on June 24, 2022.

A criminal complaint states officers arrived and found two victims – identified as Giovanni Hernandez and Melvin Lopez – dead in an alley with gunshot wounds to their heads. There were numerous bullet casings near the victims' bodies.

Minutes before police were called, court filings said surveillance video showed two vehicles driving in the area – a Toyota minivan, driven by Hernandez, followed by a white Acura – toward a dead end. The complaint noted the only outlet from the dead end would be an entry to the same alley where the victims were later found dead.

Memorial for homicide victims near 37th and Roberts (June 2022)

Arson

The backstory:

While investigators were at the homicide scene, the complaint states police were notified of a vehicle arson near 39th and North – a little more than a half-mile away. The Toyota minivan was fully engulfed in flames.

Prosecutors said surveillance video showed the Toyota minivan pull up to the area minutes after the shooting would have taken place. The minivan was again followed by the white Acura seen near the homicide scene, and two people got inside.

Shortly before midnight, the complaint states video showed the same white Acura return to the alley where the minivan was eventually set on fire. Within minutes of the Acura's return, a large-scale fire was visible.

An arson investigator determined the fire was started inside the vehicle, according to court filings, and was able to rule out electrical items as a cause, concluding that some started the vehicle on fire.

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Moore identified

The backstory:

Investigators reviewed information – including call logs and location data – from the victims' cellphones. Prosecutors said the data showed Hernandez had 17 calls/texts with another number in the hours leading up to his death. A Wisconsin Department of Corrections agent identified the number as Moore's.

Location data associated with Moore's cellphone placed it at the homicide scene at around the time it happened, per the complaint. The cellphone then moved slightly north, toward the arson scene, before records ceased. Records resumed around 1 a.m. on June 25, 2022 – placing it near Teutonia and Green Tree, roughly seven miles from the homicides and arson.

Surveillance from the area of Teutonia and Green Tree showed two people go into the apartment complex at around 1 a.m., which prosecutors said corresponded with the time Moore's cellphone was placed there. Additional surveillance and cellphone data placed Moore's phone in the white Acura when surveillance showed the car leaving on the morning of June 25, 2022.

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That same morning, the white Acura pulled up to a hospital. The complaint states hospital surveillance video states Moore got out of the backseat and into the front passenger seat wearing the same clothing as one of the two people seen on surveillance going into the apartment complex around 1 a.m.

On June 28, 2022, Moore was taken into custody when he met with the DOC agent. Prosecutors said, prior to his arrest, investigators spoke to three other people who all provided the same phone number for Moore.

Additional surveillance video, paired with cellphone data, placed Moore and the white Acura at locations throughout the city in the hours before and after the homicide.