Milwaukee police arrest 13-year-old boy in connection to the fatal shootings of two 15-year-olds
A 13-year-old boy has been arrested in connection to the killing of two 15-year-old Milwaukee boys, police said.
Milwaukee police said they are seeking two additional known suspects in connection to the shooting.
No charges have been issued by the Milwaukee County District Attorney's Office in connection to the shooting. The incident took place Saturday at about 10:30 p.m. on the 1400 block of West Halsey Avenue.
Alejandro Sanchez and Monroe Weso were both identified as the victims by their families on GoFundMe pages set up to help pay for memorial services.
“(Alejandro) was an amazing boy, he was very outgoing and just loved being with his family and friends,” his sister, Dalilah Sanchez, wrote. “He always liked to look out for people and get creative.”
Cheyenne Grignon, an aunt of Monroe, said her nephew is a Milwaukee native, but "home was always the Menominee Reservation, where his final resting place will be."
"He was an outgoing, enthusiastic young man that had so much more life to live," Grignon wrote.
Milwaukee, like much of the nation, has seen an uptick in youth being harmed by guns since 2020.
That year, gun violence became the leading cause of death for children in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
In Milwaukee, the number of children injured in shootings and who have died by homicide has doubled, when comparing the four years prior to the COVID-19 pandemic to the four years since its arrival in early 2020.
Since the pandemic, Milwaukee saw an average of 105 children injured by guns and 24 killed in homicides, the majority of which are committed with guns.
Access to guns and widespread effects from the COVID-19 pandemic have been cited as factors by law enforcement, community members and academics.
However, the trend appears to have slowed so far in 2024 compared to last year, along with the city’s overall gun violence and homicide rate. Through Thursday, the city recorded three child homicides and 20 child victims of nonfatal shootings, down from eight and 39 as of the same date in 2023.
Local officials have attributed the general fall in gun violence to the return of in-person youth programming, social services and the rollout of federal aid meant to help prevent violence.
Last fall, a Journal Sentinel analysis of reports from police, media, government and nonprofit agencies showed that accidental shootings involving children had increased across the state since 2020.
Although still rare, those incidents doubled in Milwaukee in the four years after the pandemic compared to the four years prior to it.
How to contact police, and to do it anonymously
Anyone with information is asked to call Milwaukee police at 414-935-7360 or, to remain anonymous, call Crime Stoppers at 414-224-TIPS or use the P3 Tips app.
Where to find help
Milwaukee's Office of Community Wellness and Safety recommends these resources for free support:
414Life outreach and conflict mediation support: 414-439-5525.
Milwaukee County's 24-Hour Mental Health Crisis Line: 414-257-7222.
Milwaukee's Child Mobile Crisis and Trauma Response Team: 414-257-7621.
National crisis text line: Text HOPELINE to 741741 to text with a trained crisis counselor.
National Suicide Prevention Hotline: 800-273-8255.
The National Domestic Violence Hotline is 800-799-7233.
Elliot Hughes of the Journal Sentinel contributed to this report.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee police arrest 13-year-old in connection to teens' death
