Fatal Milwaukee hit-and-run crash; man accused does not have a lawyer
MILWAUKEE - The man accused of hitting his girlfriend and killing her daughter near Teutonia and Vera on Milwaukee's northwest side still does not have a lawyer.
Prosecutors say 30-year-old Donald Crayton was behind the wheel when he hit his girlfriend and her 4-year-old daughter near Teutonia and Vera late April. Zekani Hymes-Wilson was killed.
Crayton was arrested along with his girlfriend, 21-year-old Adriana Merkel. Both appeared in court on Thursday, May 23. Both are due back in court in June.
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"Your honor, I would anticipate filing a motion to dismiss the criminal complaint prior to that hearing," said Justin Singleton, Merkel’s defense attorney.
Merkel posted $50,000 cash and got out of jail last week. She now has an attorney. But Crayton does not.
Adriana Merkel
"This is something of a unique case, because of its nature," said Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Mark Sanders.
Crayton remains jailed on a $500,000 bond.
A letter from the Office of the State Public Defender said that it has not been able to appoint Crayton an attorney. It has a limited number of attorneys who are qualified to take the most serious cases – and fewer in homicide cases.
"The only real alternative is to appoint a lawyer for you at county expense; and I’m going to do that on the next date, if they haven’t appointed a lawyer for you," Judge Sanders said.
It is part of a larger issue facing defendants in the criminal justice system – who cannot afford an attorney on their own. In the letter, the state public defendant said it faces a high volume of cases coming in, staff vacancies and fewer private attorneys to take cases.
Donald Crayton
"Hopefully a lawyer will be in contact with you before then. If not, my hope is you’ll have a lawyer here on that next date," the judge said.
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Merkel has a preliminary hearing set for June 4.
The same day, Crayton is due back in court with or without an attorney.