Milwaukee girl shot, killed; Benjamin Garrett sentenced, 22 years prison
MILWAUKEE - An 18-year-old Milwaukee man who pleaded guilty in connection with the October 2022 fatal shooting of 12-year-old Olivia Shultz at 37th and Rohr was sentenced to 22 years in prison on Thursday, June 1.
Benjamin Garrett
Benjamin Garrett pleaded guilty in March to charges associated with this crime. Those included:
- First-degree reckless homicide – party to a crime
- First-degree recklessly endangering safety – party to a crime
In addition to prison time, Garrett was sentenced to six years of extended supervision.
There was a ruckus outside of the Milwaukee County courtroom ahead of the second.
Then following the emotional sentence hearing, the victim's mother said her heart still aches for her daughter.
"When it comes down to it, he gets the phone calls. He can still say ‘mom, I love you. I don’t get any of that. I get to go to the graveyard and visit her," said Celeste Wilson, victim's mother. "I want justice for my baby."
Celeste Wilson
"I’m sorry, Celeste, for the loss of your daughter. I’m sorry you were shot and all you and your family is going through. You lives will never be the same and I’m the reason to that," Benjamin Garrett said during the sentencing hearing.
Olivia Shultz
"Parents we gotta do better," Wilson said. "These are our kids. Our kids are getting killed by other kids. It's some of our kids doing it to other people’s kids. Our kids are victims. It’s getting senseless. We’re better than this."
Case details
According to the criminal complaint against Garrett, police interviewed the woman who was wounded. She told officials she had just returned from grocery shopping -- and parked in the alley behind her house. The woman stated she saw two young males walking in the alley -- it appeared to her that they were looking around as if they were looking for something. The complaint says both of the young males were masked -- one was wearing a surgical mask, and the other was wearing a black ski mask that covered his entire face.
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The woman's husband was staring at both the young men, the complaint says. As they walked past their car, one of the young men said, "Can I get my face back," the complaint says. He then pulled down his mask, revealing his face.
After walking past their car, the first young man pulled out a gun. The woman told the young man, "he did not need to do anything with the gun, that it's not worth it." The young men kept walking.
12-year-old fatally shot near 37th and Rohr
The complaint says when the two young men were about four houses away, the first young man "began to shoot at her and her family." The woman turned to take cover, and when she did, she was shot in the back. The woman then saw that her daughter had been shot, the complaint says.
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Another person spoke with police on Oct. 11 -- and indicated they "saw a Facebook photo of the person" who fired the shots. Authorities say they used this photo and social media to identify Benjamin Garrett, the defendant.
Benjamin Garrett