Franklin Man Charged In Connection With Fatal Milwaukee Shooting

FRANKLIN, WI — A Franklin man was charged in connection with a fatal Milwaukee shooting, according to a criminal complaint.

Julius M. Coleman, 38, was charged Thursday in Milwaukee County Court with first-degree intentional homicide and possession of a firearm by a felon, online records show. A criminal complaint said Coleman was living at a motel in Franklin at the time of the shooting.

If he is convicted, Coleman faces a life term in prison.

It started on April 8, when Milwaukee police were called out to an address on Smith Street near Howell and Kinnickinnic Avenues around 10:30 a.m. for a complaint of a shooting. An officer found a parked sedan and a man inside who was shot multiple times. He had no pulse, wasn't breathing, and was pronounced dead, according to the criminal complaint.

A witness told police she saw a black sedan parked next to the car where the body was found and said she heard at least two loud pops and glass breaking before the sedan sped away, according to the criminal complaint.

Police recovered surveillance video from a nearby gas station which showed the dead man's car driving by and parking off-camera, and then the black sedan pulling next to the vehicle, the complaint said. When the black sedan arrived, the man's car reversed into the view of the camera, and then the sedan drove away, according to the complaint.

Police also recovered footage from Milwaukee County Transit System buses from before and after the shooting, which helped to identify the license plates on the sedan, the complaint said. Police spoke to the car's dealership, where an employee told them the car was loaned out to Coleman while he was getting work done on another car, the complaint said.

Police tracked Coleman's phone to the time and area of the shooting through cell tower mapping, the complaint said.

When police confronted Coleman on April 23, he pulled out a handgun, but police used a taser on him and arrested him, according to the criminal complaint.