66th and Lisbon fatal shooting: Keshawn Rowsey accused, charged
MILWAUKEE - 20-year-old Keshawn Rowsey was charged on Wednesday, April 27 with first-degree intentional homicide in the fatal shooting of 19-year-old Leah Davis near 66th and Lisbon in Milwaukee.
Keshawn Rowsey
According to the criminal complaint, Milwaukee police responded to a shooting near 66th and Lisbon on April 23. When officers arrived on the scene, the complaint says officers were met by the defendant, Keshawn Rowsey, who also called 911. The defendant said, "I called. She's right up here." Officers went to the apartment -- and located a woman who had suffered multiple gunshot wounds. That woman was later identified as Leah Davis. Despite lifesaving measures, Davis died from her injuries.
Leah Davis
The complaint indicates investigators spoke with a friend of the victim and who is also familiar with Rowsey. The friend told police "she received a phone call from the defendant and he told her, '(Leah Davis') apartment got shot up eight times.' (The friend) asked the defendant if he was sure and he said, 'I heard them shooting and I ran.'" The friend then called 911 to get police to the residence.
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This same person told police Davis and Rowsey had been dating since fall 2020 -- and had a "rocky" relationship. The person said "the defendant was possessive and overprotective" of Davis and that they had broken up just three weeks ago. She also told police "in September 2021 the defendant made threats to kill (the victim) and even said that he purchased a gun to do so," the complaint says.
Milwaukee homicide scene near 66th and Lisbon
Another person who spoke with police said on the day of the shooting, she could hear the defendant knocking on Davis' door and saying, "Let me in." She told police she "continued to hear knocking and then the knocking stopped and she heard three gunshots," the complaint says.
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Another neighbor of Davis provided investigators with a similar recounting of the events. However, about ten minutes after the shooting, this neighbor said she heard the defendant in the hallway near Davis' apartment -- she believed he was on the phone. The neighbor "could hear the defendant crying and saying that someone killed (Leah Davis)," the complaint says.
The complaint says a friend of the defendant also spoke with police. He told investigators Rowsey "called him and told him that 'LD got shot.'" When the friend responded by asking what Rowsey did, the complaint says "the defendant told him that he shot LD," the complaint says.
Rowsey made his initial appearance in Milwaukee County court on Wednesday afternoon. Cash bond was set at $250,000. Rowsey is due back in court for a preliminary hearing on May 6.
Davis' family and friends held a vigil for Davis on Sunday.
"This is a very, very hurtful time for us," said Tiane Conners, Davis' aunt. "We will miss her. She’ll definitely be missed."
There is help available
"Homicides don’t just organically happen, like that," said Carmen Pitre, President and CEO of Sojourner Family Peace Center.
Pitre said there have been eleven domestic violence-related homicide in 2022. She told FOX6 News leaving relationships is often the most dangerous time for survivors. But so is staying in those relationships.
""Talk to someone, make a phone call, call our hotline, text, call a friend. And for that friend and family member – be a safe presence," Pitre said.