Teen convicted in deadly Jan. 7 crash
Emergency C-section did not save woman’s son
A teenage motorist was convicted Wednesday in a deadly crash earlier this year that killed a pregnant Milwaukee woman and her soon-to-be-born son on Brown Deer Road.
Monique Stewart, 32, died instantly at the scene of the Jan. 7 collision, prosecutors said. Stewart was eight months pregnant.
An emergency cesarean section was performed in an attempt to save the child’s life. Her son, Brenton, lived briefly — long enough for his father to hold him and say goodbye.
“This was no accident. He made the intentional decision to go that fast,” Assistant District Attorney Ian Vance-Curzan said. “You don’t accidentally go 86 mph in a 40 mph zone.”
A jury on Wednesday needed roughly 3 1⁄ hours to find Akol Riak, 19, guilty
2 of six felony charges, including two counts of second-degree reckless homicide.
“It’s tragic that we’re here, and that a young man ... would make such a careless decision,” Stewart’s cousin Elena Bradby told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel outside the courtroom. “Everyday you hear on the news about somebody’s demise because of speeding. We have a huge problem here.”
Trial began Monday in Milwaukee County Circuit Court.
Prosecutors say Riak, of Milwaukee, admitted to police he was driving a car that traveled more than 80 mph through the intersection of West Brown Deer Road and North Servite Drive when it crashed into the vehicle carrying Stewart
as it attempted a left turn.
Stewart was a passenger of a car with four other family members, including her mother and 8-year-old daughter, that was headed to another relative’s home less than two minutes away from the scene of the crash.
Everyone else in her vehicle was hospitalized. Most suffered serious injuries.
The crash was captured on a nearby surveillance camera.
Riak suffered nonlife-threatening injuries in the crash. Blood samples taken from him showed no alcohol or drugs in his system.
Defense attorney Aneeq Ahmad conceded to jurors his client was speeding behind the wheel that day, but said convicting him of reckless homicide would be “an overreach.”
“This was very tragic,” said Ahmad, of Milwaukee. “But not every tragic incident is a crime.”
Sentencing will be July 26.
Reckless driving and speeding have evolved into serious safety issues for residents in Milwaukee County. A recent report from the Wisconsin Policy Forum reinforced the assertion Milwaukee has the most dangerous roadways in the state and has in recent years experienced a surge in traffic deaths that is largely impacting Black and brown lives.
Milwaukee police have issued 1,275 citations for speeding so far in 2024, compared with 5,894 tickets in all of last year, city traffic data shows. In all, 992 of the citations were handed out to drivers who were stopped for driving more than 20 mph over the posted speed limit.
Stewart’s family is asking for the public’s help to pay for funeral and memorial costs. By Wednesday afternoon, a GoFundMe page raised more than $2,800 of a $15,000 goal.