Informant involved in homicide of 15-year-old provided key information, detective testifies (2024)

One of the occupants of a stolen Lexus SUV used during a shooting on Madison’s Far East Side last year that left a 15-year-old girl dead provided Madison police with vital information about the others in the vehicle, according to testimony Thursday at a preliminary hearing for one of the four men charged for his role in the shooting.

Detective Matthew Wentzel testified the informant admitted taking part in the shooting on Oct. 10, 2023, outside an apartment building at Harmony at Grandview Commons in which Kyesha Miller was killed and three 14-year-olds were injured.

Wentzel did not name the informant during the hearing, and the informant is also not named in a criminal complaint filed on July 25 against the four, who include Wilson D. Clark III, 21, of Fitchburg; Donivan L. Douglas, 21, and Reginald M. Sexton Jr., 22, both of Madison; and Javian D. White, 23, of Sun Prairie.

Deputy District Attorney William Brown said after the hearing that he could not say whether any additional people, beyond the four who have been charged in the case, would face charges.

Wentzel’s testimony came during a preliminary hearing for White, who is believed to have been the driver of the stolen Lexus, based on DNA evidence taken from the vehicle, video surveillance and the statement of the informant.

Wentzel testified that the informant said White also was directing the four other occupants of the vehicle, telling them, for example, to turn off their cellphones before they arrived at Harmony shortly before 8:30 p.m. on Oct. 10.

After Wentzel’s testimony, White’s lawyer, John Smerlinski, did not oppose a probable cause finding for White, who was ordered by Circuit Judge Stephen Ehlke to stand trial. Smerlinski also entered pleas of not guilty on behalf of White, who is charged with first-degree intentional homicide, three counts of attempted first-degree intentional homicide, and first-degree reckless endangerment, all as a party to a crime.

Prior to White’s preliminary hearing, Amanda Riek, the attorney for Douglas, asked for a competency evaluation to determine whether he has the ability to assist in his defense. A hearing on the competency issue is set for Aug. 27.

A preliminary hearing for Clark was delayed until Aug. 20 to give his newly appointed attorney, Jason Gonzalez, a chance to speak to Clark and get up to speed on the case. Sexton also will return to court for a status conference on Aug. 20. He told Ehlke that his family is trying to hire an attorney for him.

‘Dozens’ of shots

Wentzel testified that police were called to Harmony, in the 5900 block of Milwaukee Street, after the 911 Center received calls about “dozens and dozens” of shots fired, and juvenile victims who were shot.

The first officers on the scene attempted lifesaving efforts on Miller, who had sustained a gunshot wound to the back. She was taken to a hospital by paramedics, where she died, Wentzel said.

Another victim was severely wounded and underwent lifesaving surgery. Another sustained a through-and-through wound to the leg, and one other was grazed on the ankle by a bullet.

Wentzel said security video showed the Lexus arriving and stopping and four passengers jumping out, all firing weapons. The driver remained in the vehicle, inching it forward, and then the other four got back in and the Lexus drove off, Wentzel testified.

Surveillance video showed the Lexus also had been at Harmony about an hour before the shooting, Wentzel said.

The Lexus was later found abandoned on D’Onofrio Drive on Madison’s Far West Side. Samples were taken of the interior for DNA analysis, and White’s DNA was found on the front console controls in the Lexus, Wentzel testified.

At the scene of the shooting, Wentzel testified, police recovered about 40 bullet casings. An analysis of the casings by the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives found the casings came from four guns, he said.

Gang feud

The informant, Wentzel testified, was placed at the scene of the shooting by phone records.

“He identified himself as one of the people who committed the crime,” Wentzel said, adding that the informant’s DNA also was found in the vehicle.

The informant told police where each person was seated in the Lexus, and that White was the “leader” who stayed in the Lexus while the others got out and fired shots.

The motivation for the shooting, Wentzel said, was an ongoing feud between two rival gangs — one called “MBK” whose members carried out the shooting and another called “OTG,” with members who lived at Harmony. He said the feud has involved multiple homicides and attempted homicides.

Wentzel added that Miller, the girl who was killed, had nothing to do with either gang.