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Washington Park killing, man charged
A Milwaukee man is charged with first-degree reckless homicide for a 2023 fatal shooting at the Washington Park basketball court.
MILWAUKEE - A Milwaukee man is charged with first-degree reckless homicide for a 2023 fatal shooting at Washington Park.
Prosecutors accuse 22-year-old Shon Myers of shooting and killing a man after a fight broke out on the basketball court.
The shooting happened around 7:20 p.m. on May 5, 2023. The victim, since identified as Kearney Delinkko, was found shot near the basketball courts and taken to a hospital – where he died of his injuries a few days later. An autopsy conducted by Milwaukee County's chief medical examiner determined Delinkko suffered three gunshots wounds and ruled the manner of death as homicide.
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A witness told investigators he was playing basketball with Delinkko when two people got into an argument and "squared off" against the victim after a "hard layup," a criminal complaint states. The witness said a man then came from outside the basketball fence, reached into his hoodie and shot the victim multiple times. That person then ran off.
The complaint states a second witness described a similar altercation prior to the shooting, in which someone pushed Delinkko and then started to fight him. During the fight, the witness said someone on the court told the shooter – who "was not on the court, and not dressed like he was going to play basketball" – to "shoot him like (expletive)."
Shon Myers
Prosecutors said, in the days following the shooting, the victim's family came across screenshots of people believed to have been present during the homicide. A man in that photo was later identified as the "instigator" on the basketball court, the complaint states, while a second man was identified as another person involved in the fight. Both of those men later spoke to police and admitted to involvement in the fight, but denied firing shots.
Police executed a search warrant at a known address for one of the two men, the complaint states, and recovered guns from the home. Officers spoke with a different resident of that home, whose cellphone data showed an attempt to sell a "throw-a-way" gun shortly after the shooting.
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Milwaukee shooting at Washington Park; 28-year-old man killed
A 26-year-old man was shot and wounded on or near the basketball courts at Washington Park in Milwaukee on Friday evening, May 5.
Prosecutors said the shooter was later identified as defendant Myers. The complaint alleges Myers got the gun from one of the two people involved in the fight – and later admitted to the shooting when he returned the gun to the resident who police spoke with during the search warrant.
Data from Myers' cellphone also placed him in or near Washington Park before and at the time of the homicide, the complaint states. Investigators also reviewed Facebook messages, which stated Myers told people he was in some "serious (expletive)" in the days and weeks following the shooting. He and one of the men involved in the fight also unfriended each other on Facebook on May 5.
Myers was taken into custody on Feb. 2, 2024. Three days later, the complaint states Myers made a call from the jail in which he said someone "snitched" on him. He also said he would flee to Mississippi if he is released from jail. His initial court appearance was scheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 6.