Milwaukee homicides on the rise after 2 years of decline

Homicides are back on the rise in Milwaukee after the city experienced two straight years of declines. 

There have been 79 homicides in Milwaukee so far in 2025, up from 70 at this time last year, according to Milwaukee Police Department data. That’s an increase of 13 percent.

The increase is bucking nation trends. Recent data from AH Datalytics found homicides are down nearly 22 percent in 30 of the most “murderous cities” across the nation this year.

Since last Thursday night, seven people have died in shootings in Milwaukee.

Tracey Dent, a community activist with Peace for Change Alliance, said the last several days in the city have been marked by one tragedy after the next. 

On Thursday night, a 4-year-old was shot and killed.

The following day, hours after hundreds gathered Friday to honor a Milwaukee police officer who died in the line of duty, an Amber Alert went out for a 7-year-old boy who had been abducted at gunpoint. The boy was later found safe.

Then early Saturday morning, two people, including a well-known Milwaukee rapper, died in a “quintuple shooting” in downtown Milwaukee. 

“It was emotional overload,” Dent said. “And it was just too much.”

One of the people who died in the quintuple shooting on Saturday was rapper Antwan Hogans, also known as “Tweezy.” Community activist Shequila Morrison knew Hogans and called his death “devastating.” 

“He was a pillar in the community,” Morrison said. “He was Milwaukee. He was the definition of Milwaukee. He was what Milwaukee should be.” 

Morrison said the recent incidents over the weekend were “heartbreaking.”

“It needs to stop,” Morrison said about the violence. “It needs to stop. It’s a lot of families that’s hurt. It’s a lot of families that (are) traumatized.”

Activist Vaun Mayes said the recent violence has ripple effects throughout the community.

“People are scared to drive down certain streets, or be outside in certain neighborhoods,” Mayes said.

Milwaukee broke its homicide record three years in a row from 2020 to 2022 at the same time that murder rates were rising nationwide. But homicides had been on the decline in Milwaukee in the past two years.

Dent said the increase in murders this year is “very concerning.”

“That’s what the violence is doing, it’s gaining momentum again,” Dent said.

Morrison said it’ll take the whole community stepping up to help address the recent rise.

“The saying is: It takes a village to raise a child,” Morrison said. “I think that’s the same as with trying to keep this violence and stuff down. It’s going to take more than just us.”

Arrests already made in incidents

A 24-year-old man has been arrested in connection to the downtown Milwaukee shooting on Saturday, according to police. A statement from the Milwaukee Police Department said the quintuple shooting was the latest violent incident in downtown Milwaukee. 

“MPD (Milwaukee Police Department) has been proactively working with our intergovernmental partners including the Common Council and the City Attorney’s Office to address these issues,” the statement said.

In a Saturday night statement, police announced that 7-year-old Jamal White, the subject of the Amber Alert, had been located and is safe. A 25-year-old man has been arrested for the abduction, according to a spokesperson for the department.

Mayes said he was grateful White was recovered.

“We got some justice and some positive out of, you know, a crazy situation,” Mayes said.

Ralph Taylor, the father of the 4-year-old boy who was shot and killed, has been charged with first-degree intentional homicide for the shooting, according to a criminal complaint from the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office. The child’s mother, Casandra Taylor, has also been charged with neglecting a child. 

“This past week has been one of the most difficult and heartbreaking I can remember as a leader and as a native son of this city,” Milwaukee Alder Russell Stamper wrote in a statement. “We’ve seen tragedy after tragedy, and our collective heart is heavy.”