Attempted car theft, reckless homicide; Milwaukee man gets 5 years
Lamont Rodgers
MILWAUKEE - A Milwaukee man has been sentenced to five years in prison after a 2020 attempted car theft ended with one man dead.
Lamont Rodgers, 21, pleaded guilty to second-degree reckless homicide and second-degree recklessly endangering safety in April 2021.
The shooting happened near 40th and North the night of Jan. 20, 2020. When police arrived, they spoke to a man who said two men got in his car while he was inside a store. When the man confronted them, a criminal complaint states they fired shots at him.
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Those two men, identified as Rodgers and Kenneth Yearby, tried to drive off, but they put the car into drive instead of reverse and drove over a piece of concrete in the parking lot. The car got stuck, and Rodgers and Yearby ran off.
As they ran off, the complaint states, the car's owner said he heard one of the men say to the other "bust him" – which is when the shooting began. Rodgers and Yearby got into a silver car driven by a third person and rode off.
Owner returns to vehicle from store near 40th and North
Police said shortly after the shooting, an 18-year-old man was dropped off at St. Joseph's Hospital with a gunshot wound and died. The man was identified as Yearby.
The day after the attempted car theft, detectives interviewed Rodgers. During the interview, the complaint states, Rodgers said he and Yearby were riding around in a silver car driven by a third person when they spotted the man's car running in the parking lot near 40th and North. He and Yearby got into the running car and. When the man came out and confronted them, Rodgers said he and Yearby got out and ran.
Occupants bail from vehicle near 40th and North
While they were running, Rodgers said the driver of the silver car that he and Yearby arrived and fled in fired "three to four" shots while they ran. Rodgers said he turned and fired one shot, aiming toward the store and the man that had confronted them. He and Yearby got back into the silver car and rode off.
Rodgers told detectives he heard Yearby say he was shot while they were running. The complaint states the two of them got into the silver car and drove to the hospital, where they dropped Yearby off.
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Rodgers said that he didn't think that he shot Yearby because Yearby was not near his gunfire. He said that he thought the driver of the silver car shot Yearby.
In addition to prison time, Rodgers was sentenced to five years of extended supervision.