Killing of prostitute brings term of 20 years
Man hid body in bin after mutilation attempt
A man who killed a prostitute he said he thought had stolen his wallet, then washed her body with toilet bowl cleaner and broke her legs to fit her in a plastic tote, was sentenced Friday to 20 years in prison.
Though he initially considered trying to dispose of the body, Justin Sykes, 23, eventually surrendered to police the next day, gave a full confession and pleaded guilty to first-degree reckless homicide in the Oct. 24, 2016, death of Kayla Bauske, 23.
Those were some of the mitigating factors Assistant District Attorney Grant Huebner said weighed in favor of the sentence he recommended, and that Circuit Judge Jeffrey Wagner adopted. It includes 12 years of extended supervision after Sykes’ release.
At the end of a long, detailed and emotional statement to Wagner about Bauske, and about how she learned of her granddaughter’s death, Theresa Schwager asked for a 30-year sentence. The offense carries a maximum prison term of 40 years.
Sykes’ mother, Tara DeLara, told Bauske’s family how sorry she was for their loss. She described her son’s long battle with bipolar disorder, which resulted in hospitalizations when he was 16 and 22. She said when he was taking his medication, he was an accomplished student, athlete and cellist at Piux XI High School, but that he didn’t like how it made him feel.
After a semester in college, Sykes, who has no prior criminal record, drifted among several jobs and began using drugs and alcohol in lieu of his medications.
According to the criminal complaint, he had called for an escort after a night of partying with friends. Bauske came to his apartment in the 1800 block of N. Arlington Place with a friend in Bauske’s truck. When Bauske didn’t return, the friend called another friend. When they called her number, they heard someone say, “Milwaukee police.”
They told Schwager, who filed a missing person report about her granddaughter. Bauske’s friends went back to the neighborhood and were asking about her door-to-door. One said a man he talked to at Sykes’ apartment sounded just like the voice who’d answered “Milwaukee police” when the friend tried Bauske’s phone the night before.
When police searched Sykes’ apartment, they found the plastic tote bin in his closet. He told police he had gone to the bathroom after he and Bauske had sex, and when he came out, his wallet and $300 was missing and Bauske was on her way out. He said they fought in the kitchen and in trying to quiet her, he killed her.
Still high and drunk, he then “freaked out,” didn’t call 911 and began to try to cover up the crime before asking friends what to do. One of those friends alerted Sykes’ mother, who first alerted police of his possible involvement.
In his own statement Friday, Sykes apologized to Bauske’s family and took responsibility for choosing not to take his medication. “I can’t comprehend what you feel,” he said. “My bad choices led to your suffering.”