9 years in prison for Trayvonn Brown in fatal shooting of mother of 6 'over a telephone'
Trayvonn Brown
MILWAUKEE -- Trayvonn Brown, 26, of Milwaukee was sentenced to serve nine years in prison and four years' extended supervision in the fatal shooting of Debra Casey which happened Oct. 6, 2019 near 14th Street and Orchard Street in Milwaukee. Prosecutors said Brown fired after leaving his cellphone in a vehicle. Brown told investigators he meant to scare Casey but ended up killing her.
Brown pleaded guilty to two felonies in mid-December -- second-degree reckless homicide and possession of a firearm by a felon. He received a sentence of two years in prison and two years' extended supervision on the firearm charge, but the court ordered it be served concurrently to the homicide sentence. He also received credit for 135 days' time served. Brown was ordered to have no contact with Casey's family unless he chooses to write a letter of apology, which would have to be approved by Wisconsin Department of Corrections officials, online court records showed.
Debra Casey
The fatal shooting
According to the criminal complaint, Milwaukee police officers were dispatched to the area near 14th and Orchard shortly before 6 a.m. on Oct. 6, 2019. They saw a car with its engine running -- and a woman inside who was unresponsive. The officers broke the window to gain access to the interior of the vehicle -- because it was locked. They performed CPR on the victim -- but were unable to locate a pulse. The victim was identified as Debra Casey.
Inside the car, detectives found a cellphone -- and took it to the Milwaukee Police Department Bureau of Identification. They also located a 9mm casing in the street -- and a "Newport cigarette pack inside of which were ripped corner cut baggies, consistent with drug packaging." The criminal complaint said forensic investigators recovered fingerprints from the cellphone that were identified as belonging to Brown.
"Essentially, this was all over a telephone; a telephone that was left in a vehicle," said Judge Rosa Barillas during one of Brown's early court appearances.
Memorial for Debra Casey near 14th and Orchard, Milwaukee
Brown was arrested on Oct. 8, 2019.
Court documents said Casey and Brown were in a vehicle together when she tried to "snatch a bag of crack rocks from him" before crashing. Brown told police he jumped out before realizing he left his cellphone inside the vehicle. When Brown tried to get back in the car to get the phone, he realized "the girl got scared" and locked the doors. He said he shot once at the car -- trying to scare Casey when the bullet struck and killed her.
FOX6's interview with Brown in 2016
Trayvonn Brown (May 2016)
Back in May 2016, Brown was part of The Joseph Project, looking to turn his life around after two prior convictions.
"I've never had a job or a job interview," Brown said in 2016. "It helped me with all that, how to walk in. I told them what I wanted to say. They said, 'Don't say it like that. Say it like this.'"
After that interview with FOX6 News, Brown stayed out of trouble until the homicide of Debra Casey.
Casey was a mother of six.
"She did not deserve what happened to her," said Jordan Barger, Casey's daughter. "She loved everybody. She was all about family."