Milwaukee man charged in shooting that paralyzed teen
A Milwaukee man known in the community as someone who recovers stolen cars has been charged with six felonies in connection with a shooting that left a 17-year-old basketball player paralyzed.
Jerod D. Brumfield, 35, was charged over the weekend with two counts of first-degree reckless injury, each of which carry a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison, in Milwaukee County Circuit Court, according to the complaint.
He also faces three counts of firstdegree recklessly endangering safety and one count of second-degree recklessly endangering safety.
Brumfield, who is being held in the Milwaukee County Jail on $150,000 bail, is accused of firing gunshots at a moving car July 27 and injuring two teenagers, ages 17 and 19, during a road rage incident. The shooting occurred in or near the 2400 block of West Locust Avenue.
Toniah Williams, 17, was shot in the back while riding in the back seat of the car and is partially paralyzed, family members and the complaint say.
She remained hospitalized at Children’s of Wisconsin over the weekend, and her family said she has a long recovery ahead.
A 19-year-old man also suffered a gunshot wound to one of his hands, according to family and the complaint.
Williams was a basketball player at the Milwaukee Academy of Science, who as a freshman, helped propel the underdog girls basketball team to the state tournament two years ago. Her mother said she transferred to Martin Luther High School last year. She had hopes of becoming a WNBA player, her mother said.
“Toniah has been robbed. She’s been robbed of her career,” Myshell Prescott, her aunt, said.
The complaint says that Williams identified Brumfield in a photo array as the person who shot her.
In an interview with a detective, she reportedly said that before the shooting, she and the four other people in the car were driving around throwing eggs at cars, according to the complaint.
Williams said while they were driving around, they saw Brumfield, whom she recognized and who drives a Cadillac Escalade with GTA Recovery decals, the name of the stolen car recovery business he has promoted.
According to the complaint, someone in the car threw an egg at Brumfield’s Escalade. He then chased the car and repeatedly rammed his vehicle into the back of the car.
The victims reported that two gunshots were fired, one of which apparently missed their car. Williams told a detective she saw Brumfield fire one of the shots, according to the complaint.
Milwaukee police detectives found what appeared to be a gunshot hole in the back of the victims’ car and in the car’s back seat, according to the complaint. Police also recovered a .40-caliber spent casing in the 2400 block of West Locust Street.
Brumfield, who uses the name Ace Smith, has given multiple TV interviews promoting himself as someone who recovers stolen vehicles.
He has been ordered not to have contact with any of the five people who were in the car.
His next hearing is scheduled for Aug. 10.
Sarah Volpenhein is a Report for America corps reporter who focuses on news of value to underserved communities for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Email her at svolpenhei@gannett.com. Please consider supporting journalism that informs our democracy with a tax-deductible gift to this reporting effort at JSOnline.com/RFA.