'Makes me sick:' Family defends man accused of fatally shooting mother of 6 over cellphone

MILWAUKEE -- The family of a man accused of killing a Milwaukee mother of six spoke out to defend his character after he was charged with second-degree reckless homicide and possession of a firearm by a felon. Trayvonn Brown's sister said her older brother isn't a monster.

"It makes me sick to my stomach," said Brown's sister.

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. They saw a car with its engine running -- and a woman inside who was unresponsive. The officers broke the window 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. 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 fingerprints were recovered from the cellphone that were identified as belonging to Brown.

Trayvonn Brown's sister

"Like, even him being accused of something like that makes me sick to my stomach because I know the type of person he really is," said Brown's sister.

Court documents showed Casey and Brown were in a car together Sunday morning when she tried to "snatch the bag of crack rocks from him" before crashing the car. 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.

"She did not deserve what happened to her," said Jordan Barger, Casey's daughter. "She loved everybody. She was all about family."

"I just don't want people looking at him like he's this person he's not," said Brown's sister.

In 2016, Brown was featured in a FOX6 story about the Joseph Project.

"Finding a job, I thought, was impossible," Brown said at the time.

Trayvonn Brown

His sister aid the 26-year-old recently stopped working.

"He put his life to the side to help me get my stuff together for me and my kids," said Brown's sister.

Brown made his initial appearance in court in this case on Friday, Oct. 11. Cash bond was set at $10,000, and a preliminary hearing was set for Oct. 18.