Prosecutors in Wisconsin have secured a murder conviction in the 2022 staged robbery of a Milwaukee Burger King which led to the accidental shooting death of 16-year-old cashier Niesha Harris-Brazell.
42-year-old Antoine Z. Edwards who set the events in motion by leaning through a drive-thru window and waving a gun around, pleaded guilty to felony murder in a hearing that lasted 10 minutes Friday.
After Edwards created the appearance of an armed robbery, one of Niesha’s coworkers – 35-year-old Derrick D. Ellis, who was not in on the plot – fired at Edwards to protect the staff but struck the cashier instead. The shooting occurred Jan. 2, 2022, at the former Burger King located at 5120 W. Capitol Drive.
Edwards agreed to plead guilty to the murder charge in exchange for the dismissal of three other felony charges.
His conviction exposes him to up to 30 years of confinement. As part of the plea agreement, Assistant District Attorney Michael Lonski said he would recommend 20 years in a prison.
A sentencing hearing is scheduled for April 14.
Edwards’ conviction comes after Ellis avoided a homicide conviction last April by pleading guilty to felony possession of a firearm by an out-of-state convicted felon, in an agreement with prosecutors. He received a five-year prison sentence that was stayed in favor of four years of probation and 12 months in the House of Corrections by Judge Mark Sanders.
In a statement submitted to the court, Niesha’s mother, Liceal Brazell, said she lost her job in the aftermath of her daughter’s death. She said Niesha was born at a time when Brazell was “at my lowest point in life where I felt no one loved me. I prayed and asked God for someone who would love me for me and he sent me my daughter.”
She said her son, who is younger than Niesha, has had a difficult time coping with the loss of her sister.
“He doesn’t know what to do so I have to be strong for him at all times,” she said of her son.
Niesha was a student at Casimir Pulaski High School.
According to court records, Edwards is the father of another teenage girl who was identified as Niesha’s best friend and coworker at the restaurant.
His daughter told police that she, her father and Niesha hatched a plan for Edwards to stage a fake robbery at the drive-thru window shortly before closing while Niesha worked the register.
But when Edwards arrived at the window that night, Niesha hesitated to hand over any money and alerted coworkers to what was happening, prompting Ellis’ gunfire, according to court records. Edwards, who never fired his own weapon, had told police that it was just himself and Niesha who came up with the idea.
But during Ellis’ sentencing hearing last July, Lonski said Niesha’s actions made him believe she was not actually in on the plan. The suggestion has also been vehemently denied by her family.
As a felon convicted of drug and burglary charges between 2008 and 2011, Edwards was barred from possessing a gun.
Three days before Niesha’s death, Milwaukee police responded to a report of gunfire on the city’s northwest side. At the scene, officers spoke to a woman who identified herself as Edwards’ girlfriend. She said he fired two gunshots into the air from his car to test out a new firearm he received, according to court records.
Edwards was not present when police arrived, and he was not arrested until eight days after the Burger King shooting. Prosecutors filed a separate felony gun possession charge against him for that incident the same day he was charged in connection to Niesha’s death.
That charge was also dismissed as part of Edwards’ plea deal.
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