An 18-year-old Milwaukee man will spend more than a decade in prison after a chaotic gunfight outside a strip mall party ended with the death of a teenage nursing student.
Earl Williams III was sentenced to 12 years in prison, followed by eight years of extended supervision, after pleading guilty in May to felony murder in the death of 19-year-old Bre’nee Veasley, according to court records. He received credit for nearly a year already served.
The shooting unfolded on the night of June 20, 2025, outside a party on West Brown Deer Road, where a large crowd had gathered. According to a probable cause affidavit, a witness said Veasley stepped outside just as a man in a ski mask was seen holding a gun. The witness said she asked him to put the weapon away because it frightened her — moments later, gunfire erupted.
The witness told investigators she took cover beneath nearby vehicles and later discovered Veasley had been shot. Authorities identified Williams as the masked shooter, saying he opened fire after mistakenly believing rival gang members were armed nearby. Two others allegedly fled the scene with him and vandalized a vehicle afterward.
When officers arrived around 11 p.m., they found gunfire had come from three separate clusters, consistent with what investigators described as a “wild west-style” exchange. Officials said Williams’ firearm was equipped with a device that let it fire like an automatic weapon. In total, 110 rounds were fired from 11 different guns in roughly 20 seconds.
While investigators do not believe Williams fired the fatal shot, they said his decision to open fire triggered the deadly exchange. Two co-defendants face separate charges of harboring a felon and are due in court next week.
Veasley, remembered by family as a straight-A student with plans to become a nurse, was set to begin her first day of nursing studies the day after she was killed.