Milwaukee fatal shooting of 14-year-old; woman 'admitted' being shooter
MILWAUKEE - A 22-year-old Milwaukee woman is charged with first-degree reckless homicide in the death of a 14-year-old boy near 39th and Vliet. The accused is Zariah Johnson.
According to the criminal complaint, Milwaukee police were dispatched to the area near 39th and Vliet on Thursday, Aug. 15. Citizens had gathered and administered two doses of Narcan to the victim, thinking this was an overdose. But once medical personnel arrived on the scene, it was learned the victim had been shot in the back. Five .380 casings were located in the area.
A witness to what happened told police the victim, later identified by the Milwaukee County Medical Examiner's Office as Alijah Golden-Richmond, "wanted to steal a car and that as they walked by the 37th Street School (Golden-Richmond) saw the blue/green Hyundai. (Golden-Richmond) broke the window of the car and they heard a female voice from inside saw 'mmhmmm!' And they all ran northbound on N. 37th St.," the complaint says. As the group was walking, the same vehicle drove eastbound in an alley, so the group "hid on the front porch of a house and the car stopped," the complaint says. The complaint goes on to say the "woman fired in the air and they all started running. The female then 'started shooting in their direction and hit dirt by his feet.' The witness told police none of the people in their group was armed.
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Police interview
Detectives interviewed defendant Johnson on Friday, Aug. 16. She initially said a man was the shooter. But after Johnson was advised that "a witness said the shooter was a female and that her own mother had said she was the shooter, Zariah Johnson began to cry and said she did not intend to kill anyone and just wanted to 'scare' them. Zariah Johnson admitted she was the shooter," the complaint says.
Fatal shooting at 39th and Vliet, Milwaukee
Johnson went on to tell police more about what happened that Thursday. She said she was in her home when she learned her sister's car was being broken into. Johnson said she saw four individuals near the vehicle and "armed herself with her mother's black handgun. When she went outside, the subjects observed her and ran away," the complaint says.
The complaint says Johnson entered the vehicle with a gun, and "began to drive around looking for the people who broke into the car." When she found what looked like the group of four, she "circled the block and returned to them and then yelled something to them to get their attention at which time two of them began to run," the complaint says. Johnson then "began to shoot at the subjects that were running, and she shot about four times until her gun jammed. She did not observe actually hitting anyone and the subjects continued to run," the complaint says. Johnson said she then drove home and parked the car behind her residence.
Fatal shooting at 39th and Vliet, Milwaukee
Gun disposed in garbage can
According to the criminal complaint, Johnson said while at home she located a Facebook Live stream with the person she shot. "The person recording was saying that the person was overdosing, but then it was discovered that he was shot in the back and was dead. She then realized that this was in the area she had fired shots and that she likely is the person who killed him," the complaint says. Johnson then told police she "told her mother and left the area with a gun and said that she disposed of the gun in a garbage can in the area of N. 23rd and Keefe. Officers searched that area and did not locate a firearm," the complaint says.
Victim's family reacts
"We just want the truth, and really, what happened," said Mary Wright, Golden-Richmond's aunt. "For you to actually follow them after they are running away, running for their lives, they are no longer a threat."
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Golden-Richmond's family is just trying to make sense of what happened.
"Pull out a gun and you shoot that gun, you intend to kill," Wright said. "It’s unbelievable. Like it’s unbelievable and that’s I say I really want the kids that he was with to speak out."
Johnson made her initial appearance in Milwaukee County court on Wednesday, Aug. 21. Cash bond was set at $150,000.