Milwaukee fatal crash; Vincent King sentenced, 13 years in prison
Vincent King; Joseph Papia; fatal crash near Fond du Lac and Congress, Milwaukee
MILWAUKEE - A Milwaukee County judge sentenced Vincent King on Wednesday, May 1 to 13 years in prison plus an additional eight years of extended supervision in connection with a fatal crash at Fond du Lac and Congress in August 2022 in which speeds reached 100 miles per hour.
King was originally charged with the following criminal counts:
- Second-degree reckless homicide
- Second-degree reckless injury
- Possession of a firearm by a felon
But as part of a plea deal revealed on Wednesday, King pleaded guilty to a second-degree reckless homicide charge. The other two charges were dismissed – one by a prosecutor's motion and the other by the court.
Case details
According to the criminal complaint, Milwaukee police responded to a fatal crash at Fond du Lac and Congress around 8 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 12. Police said a 71-year-old Milwaukee man was headed west when he was hit by another vehicle, driven by King. The 71-year-old, later identified as Joseph Papia, was taken to the hospital and died from his injuries.
The complaint indicates King suffered a broken leg and fractured hip in the wreck. His passenger suffered a broken arm.
Police recovered surveillance video from the Taco Bell on W. Fond du Lac Avenue. While it did not capture the actual collision, the complaint against King says it did capture "events before and after the collision." It was apparent King's vehicle "had been traveling at a high rate of speed," the complaint says.
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Police spoke with a firefighter who was on the crash scene. That firefighter "stated that while he was attempting to extract the driver, Vincent King, from the Charger, he located a firearm under the driver's butt."
On Aug. 13, the airbag control module was recovered from King's car. The data recovered from that module indicates King's "vehicle steadily increases in speed to 100 miles per hour" and "the accelerator remains at or near 100%" immediately before the wreck, the complaint says. The posted speed limits on W. Fond du Lac Avenue where the crash occurred is 35 miles per hour.