Former police officer bound over for trial
Former Milwaukee police officer Dominique Heaggan-Brown was bound over for trial Friday on a charge of first-degree reckless homicide in the fatal on-duty shooting of Sylville Smith, an incident that sparked riots in Sherman Park in August.
The criminal complaint says Heaggan-Brown’s first shot hit Smith in the arm as Smith, 23, threw a gun over a fence. The second shot, which hit Smith in the chest, was fired after he tossed the gun and fell to the ground, his hands near his head.
Heaggan-Brown waived his preliminary hearing and pleaded not guilty. He is expected back in court next month.
“If it takes you time to do it again after you shoot someone in a non-repeated motion, there’s thought that goes into that,” Sedan Smith, Sylville Smith’s brother, said after the hearing.
He added he feels anger and frustration when he sees Heaggan-Brown in court.
The homicide charge against Heaggan-Brown is only the second filed against an on-duty Milwaukee police officer in modern history.
If convicted, HeagganBrown, 24, faces a maximum possible penalty of 40 years in prison and another 20 on extended supervision. His bail remained at $100,000 Friday. He has been in jail since October, when he was charged with sexual assault. As a result of those charges, he was fired from the Police Department.