2023 Milwaukee fatal shooting, 53rd & Center; man accused pleads guilty

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Daquan Henderson

MILWAUKEE - Daquan Henderson, the Milwaukee man accused in the August 2023 killing of 15-year-old Keyshon Harris, pleaded guilty on Monday, Jan. 13 to a charge of first-degree intentional homicide. A second charge was dismissed and read into the court record for the purposes of sentencing. 

Henderson is now scheduled to be sentenced on Feb. 20.

53rd & Center homicide

What we know:

The shooting happened near 53rd and Center on the afternoon of Aug. 10, 2023. Police responded and found Harris on the curb with "noticeable" gunshot wounds to his body, a criminal complaint states. Despite life-saving attempts, the 15-year-old was pronounced dead at the scene.

The complaint states detectives found 15 spent bullet casings near the victim's body. Surveillance video from a nearby business showed the shooting suspect get out of a blue Hyundai roughly a block from the shooting scene minutes before it happened. The suspect left the passenger door open and was holding a gun with an extended magazine while looking in Harris' direction.

Surveillance of suspect, suspect vehicle in Aug. 10 homicide near 53rd and Center (Courtesy: MPD)

Surveillance video then showed the suspect get back into the blue Hyundai, per the complaint. The blue Hyundai then drove down an alley, and the same suspect was soon seen on surveillance running toward Harris, raising the gun and firing shots. Harris dropped to the ground, and the shooter continued to fire before he ran back to the where the blue Hyundai had been last seen on video. A total of 15 shots were fired.

Henderson identified

The complaint states surveillance video captured part of the blue Hyundai's Illinois license plates. The day before the homicide, a blue Hyundai with a matching partial Illinois plate was reported stolen from outside a Milwaukee hotel. Separate surveillance video showed the car being stolen.

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Three days after the homicide, prosecutors said the same blue Hyundai was found during an unrelated Wauwatosa police investigation near 53rd and Meinecke in Milwaukee. A forensic investigator pulled a fingerprint from the car and was able to identify the print as belonging to Henderson.

Henderson was arrested for fleeing West Allis police on Aug. 31. Milwaukee police searched Henderson's home on Sept. 2 and found the "exact shoes the shooter is wearing" in the homicide surveillance, the complaint states. In addition to his general appearance and build, investigators also used a right forearm tattoo to identify Henderson as the shooter.

Facebook, Instagram posts

The complaint states a video posted on Henderson's social media on Aug. 13 – three days after the shooting – showed a black handgun with a caption looking to "trade" the weapon or sell it. That gun appeared to match the one used in the shooting, which had a distinct white inscription etched behind the rear sights. That gun was later recovered during a Sept. 14 arrest, according to prosecutors. A preliminary examination found it was the gun used to shoot and kill Harris.

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A Facebook group chat from Aug. 29 referenced an MPD bulletin requesting help to identify the Aug. 10 homicide suspect. In that group chat, the complaint states someone told Henderson "you good cause they can't see your face, just burn all that (expletive)" and "get rid of that gun too." Another person told Henderson to "lay low;" he was arrested in West Allis days later. Prosecutors said Henderson mentioned "jus my tats showing" and never denied being the person seen in the bulletin. 

Henderson in custody

Once in custody, the complaint states Henderson denied the blue Hyundai looking familiar and claimed to not know how his fingerprint would have been on it. He also denied knowing Harris despite having repeatedly searched for Harris' Facebook profile after the homicide. He said his girlfriend lived at the address where the blue Hyundai was found.