A Wisconsin man was sentenced Friday, August 19 in the 2016 murder of 9-year-old Za’laiya Jenkins in Milwaukee. The shooting happened after a woman scolded them for taking part in what appeared to be a drug sale and after shots were fired toward them, a criminal complaint said.
“I serve anyone I want to in front of any house I want to!” one of the men yelled back shortly before the volley of gunfire toward the home on the 1500 block of West Meinecke Avenue.
Otha Brown was convicted of first degree reckless homicide as a party to a crime and sentenced to 40 years in prison followed by 20 years of extended supervision.
Brown is one of three men convicted in the shooting death of Za’laiya.
Police say Za’laiya was sitting inside her home on 15th and Meinecke Street when she was struck by a stray bullet as two groups of people shot at each other.
She died one day before her birthday and 11 days after the shooting.
Damonta Jennings received a 35-year sentence and Tony Powell was sentenced to 41 years for his role in the shooting.
According to the complaint, the men were in a white Chevy Malibu loaned from a friend and were in the area, as two of the suspects told detectives, to sell a phone. Brown and Powell said that while the transaction was being made, a man came out of the home and started shooting at them. The driver, 21-year-old Jennings, drove off and circled back to the home where they all got out and fired towards the home.
Jenkins, who was inside the home watching TV, was struck by a bullet that passed through her brain and fragmented inside her head, the complaint said.
The day after the shooting, Milwaukee police chief Ed Flynn said that more than 40 shell casings were recovered from the scene.
A legacy garden was planted in Jenkins’ name near where she died. It, however, has been vandalized, with decorations and produce swiped from the site, family members said.
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