Milwaukee fatal shooting: Keshawn Rowsey sentenced to life in prison
Keshawn Rowsey
MILWAUKEE - A Milwaukee man has been sentenced to life in prison in the fatal shooting of 19-year-old Leah Davis in April 2022.
Keshawn Rowsey, 21, was found guilty at trial on February 7 of first-degree intentional homicide. After 35 years in prison, Rowsey will be eligible to petition for extended supervision.
According to the criminal complaint, Milwaukee police responded to a shooting near 66th and Lisbon on April 23, 2022. When officers arrived on the scene, the complaint says officers were met by the defendant, Rowsey, who also called 911. The defendant said, "I called. She's right up here." Officers went to the apartment -- and located a woman who had suffered multiple gunshot wounds. That woman was later identified as Leah Davis. Despite lifesaving measures, Davis died from her injuries.
FREE DOWNLOAD: Get breaking news alerts in the FOX6 News app for iOS or Android
The complaint indicates investigators spoke with a friend of the victim who is also familiar with Rowsey. The friend told police "she received a phone call from the defendant, and he told her, '(Leah Davis') apartment got shot up eight times.' (The friend) asked the defendant if he was sure, and he said, 'I heard them shooting, and I ran.'" The friend then called 911 to get the police to the residence.
Milwaukee homicide scene near 66th and Lisbon
This same person told police Davis, and Rowsey had been dating since the fall of 2020 -- and had a "rocky" relationship. The person said "the defendant was possessive and overprotective" of Davis and that they had broken up just three weeks ago. She also told police "in September 2021, the defendant made threats to kill (the victim) and even said that he purchased a gun to do so," the complaint says.
Another person who spoke with police said on the day of the shooting; she could hear the defendant knocking on Davis' door and saying, "Let me in." She told police she "continued to hear knocking, and then the knocking stopped, and she heard three gunshots," the complaint says.
Leah Davis
Another neighbor of Davis provided investigators with a similar recounting of the events. However, about ten minutes after the shooting, this neighbor said she heard the defendant in the hallway near Davis' apartment -- she believed he was on the phone. The neighbor "could hear the defendant crying and saying that someone killed (Leah Davis)," the complaint says.
The complaint says a friend of the defendant also spoke with police. He told investigators Rowsey "called him and told him that 'LD got shot.'" When the friend responded by asking what Rowsey did, the complaint says, "the defendant told him that he shot LD," the complaint says.