'You have the ability to overcome this': Father of three gets probation after shooting outside Rufus King High School
Devon Jobe didn’t overcome towering obstacles only to lose everything because of one, impulsive decision.
As Jobe awaited his sentence for firing a gun three times and injuring five people outisde Rufus King High School in 2022, Milwaukee County Judge David Feiss threw his confidence behind the 35-year-old father of three, whose difference-making career as a banker evaporated in the last year.
“You have the ability to overcome this and I think you will,” Feiss said.
Jobe was sentenced to two years of probation Thursday. In February, he pleaded guilty to four felony counts of injury by negligent use of a weapon.
Feiss’ decision came after Jobe tearfully apologized for his actions and vowed to restore his credibility. Family, friends and others spoke about the adversity he overcame as a child to become a valuable community asset, whose financial literacy helped countless people in Milwaukee.
“I wallow in the shame that I have brought to those around me, especially my wife and daughters,” Jobe said, battling tears as he spoke. “They don’t deserve to be looked at differently because of me.
“I am going to earn the respect back. I am going to make my family and my community proud of me again.”
On the evening of Feb. 1, 2022, Jobe fired three shots into the ground outside the school, at 1801 W. Olive St., in an effort to break up a physical fight between a group of girls while a basketball game was underway inside.
The fight attracted a crowd of onlookers. Bullet fragments from Jobe’s shots injured four girls and one woman between the ages of 15 and 20, including a niece of his, according to the criminal complaint.
Defense attorney Aneeq Ahmad and Assistant District Attorney Jacob Corr agreed that Jobe had only tried to protect members of his family caught up in the dispute, albeit in a “foolish and dangerous” way.
Although nobody reported serious injuries, the incident received considerable publicity because of its proximity to a school and the age of the victims. It also came after an uncharacteristically violent January amid historic gun violence in Milwaukee, prompting a press conference from the chief of police, the mayor and the head of the Office of Violence Prevention in the days afterward.
“To have adults respond to a situation like this and use that level of violence, it’s unacceptable,” Chief Jeffrey Norman said at the time.
Jobe turned himself in three days later and soon after lost his job at U.S. Bank, where he was in the running for a managerial position, according to several people who spoke at Thursday’s hearing.
It represented a terrible downfall for someone who overcame a disadvantaged childhood. Jobe’s family was profiled in the 2004 book “American Dream,” by Jason DeParle, who spoke at the hearing.
He said Jobe grew up in a family that did not always have money for food and whose home was once targeted in a shooting. Two members of Jobe’s family are in prison for homicide, DeParle said, and members of his extended family have also been in the justice system.
Jobe has no previous criminal history. After joining U.S. Bank, he became popular among customers, some of whom would only agree to work him, his former manager, Vickie Jenkins, said in a letter to the court. Two local business owners also wrote to Feiss and credited Jobe with helping them get their business off the ground.
“He has made it possible for me to have my business and relationships within the community,” wrote Lascelles Rattray, owner of Fiyahside Caribbean Food Restaurant, 3709 W. Villard Ave.
Since losing that position though, Jobe has found two part-time jobs where he helps with inventory, bookkeeping and auditing.
Feiss recognized Jobe’s skillset as a valuable commodity and hoped he would find more opportunities to use it.
“I have to say, I am moved by what you have accomplished and what you have lost as a result of this,” Feiss said.
Contact Elliot Hughes at elliot.hughes@jrn.com or 414-704-8958. Follow him on Twitter @elliothughes12.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Former banker gets probation after 2022 shooting outside Rufus King
