Milwaukee I-43 ramp death; man arrested, charged after pursuit
MILWAUKEE - A fatal Milwaukee hit-and-run and high-speed pursuit have led to criminal charges against the same man in two separate cases.
Forest Mayes, 23, is charged with seven total counts between the related cases. According to a criminal complaint, he spoke to deputies about the crash hours before the victim's body was found – but made no mention of the woman who was hit.
Court records show he is being held in the Milwaukee County Jail on cash bonds totalling $100,000.
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Woman dead on off-ramp
Milwaukee County deputies were called to the I-43 southbound off-ramp at Lapham Boulevard the morning of Feb. 23. There, a woman – later identified as 32-year-old Jennifer Dimatteo – was found unresponsive and pronounced dead at the scene surrounded by "a lot of vehicle debris," according to the complaint. Her injuries were consistent with having been hit by a vehicle.
Investigators inspected the vehicle debris and determined it all came from the same vehicle. Based on the color and serial numbers, the complaint states the suspect vehicle was then identified as a blue 2022 Volkswagen Atlas.
Body located on I-43 SB off-ramp at Lapham Boulevard (Feb. 23, 2024)
Police canvassed the surrounding area for video that may have captured the Volkswagen. Per the complaint, a camera captured the license plate of a Volkswagen matching the suspect vehicle's description that had damage "consistent with the crash." It was registered to a rental company, which said the SUV was returned with damage before being taken to a collision repair shop. It appeared to have "pieces of fabric" consistent with the victim's clothing.
As it turned out, hours before the victim's body was found, the complaint states Mayes spoke to deputies near 5th and Lapham about the crash. He said he was driving and that another vehicle hit him as he was trying to merge, and that was what caused the damage – making no mention of the victim at that time.
In this case, Mayes is charged with hit-and-run (resulting in death) and felony bail jumping.
Milwaukee County pursuit
On the morning of March 8, Milwaukee County deputies were looking for Mayes in connection to the fatal hit-and-run. The complaint states he was spotted near 20th and Rawson, and a pursuit began.
Mayes allegedly sped away from a deputy whose lights and sirens were on – at one point driving on the wrong side of the road and running multiple red lights. The complaint states he was driving 70 mph when he struck another car near Chase and Holt, but he kept going.
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Prosecutors said Mayes continued to speed and run red lights and stop signs before the chase ended near 20th and Layton. He and a passenger were arrested. The chase stretched 16.8 miles and reached a top speed of 98 mph.
Once in custody, prosecutors said authorities told Mayes about the fatal hit-and-run. He said "this ain't no intentional homicide" and "how the (expletive) am I supposed to know what I hit at 3 or 4 in the morning?"
In this case, Mayes is charged with fleeing/eluding police, first-degree recklessly endangering safety, hit-and-run and two counts of felony bail jumping.