Murder Capital Milwaukee

A UWM student delivering sandwiches was shot dead at Humboldt and Burleigh in Milwaukee's Riverwest neighborhood. He was twenty-one and working his way through college.

This murder follows a triple homicide yesterday in the city.

From The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

A mother and two sons were found dead inside their home on the north side Tuesday afternoon, apparently the victims of homicide.

A cousin, Janie Lott, identified the three as Betty Jones, 51, and two of her sons, Christopher B. Durant, 35, and Dexter P. Durant, 33.

A relative discovered their bodies after going to check on them at their home in the 2500 block of N. 28th St. about 1:40 p.m., police said.

Lott said one of Jones' daughters made the discovery.

Police would not reveal how they were killed, saying that releasing the information might compromise their investigation.

...Lott, who owns the home where the bodies were found, said she hadn't talked to her cousin for a couple of months and was shocked and devastated to learn of the killings.

...Lott said she can't imagine who would have killed her relatives, or why.

Willie Hines Jr., Common Council president and alderman for the district where the killings occurred, said he had talked to neighbors who described the victims as a good family often seen spending time together on their porch.

"It's been quite a surprise to the residents," Hines said. "They indicate it's a quiet family and a family that hasn't had any disturbances."

The home where the bodies were found is across the street from Clarke Street Elementary School.

Although it was determined the school was not in danger, police took special steps to keep children away from the crime scene, having them exit on the opposite side of the school and walking children home who lived within the area cordoned off by police tape, Schwartz said.

The block where the killings occurred is generally quiet and low on crime, which made the homicides all the more worrisome, Hines said.

"It's very perplexing in that context, because it would not fall into the category of a troubled location or a hot spot," Hines said. "It's very troubling and sad. We are very disturbed."

In less than 24 hours, the homicide toll in Milwaukee increased by four.

A mother and her two sons, a UWM student -- dead.

Crisis? What crisis?

Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett attacks Jim Sensenbrenner for saying that Milwaukee "is rapidly becoming the murder capital of the US."

Barrett dukes it out with Alderman Bob Donovan because he's been pressuring the mayor and Milwaukee Police Chief Nan Hegerty to address the problem by coming up with a comprehensive plan to combat crime and implementing it.

So who looks unreasonable here?

Sensenbrenner?

Donovan?

Here's a clue: Those in a state of denial about violent crime in Milwaukee are the one's that seem unreasonable.

That would include the stubborn Tom Barrett and the reactive Nan Hegerty.

By utilizing the "Broken Windows" theory, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani did the seemingly impossible. He cleaned up that hell hole NYC.

A proactive approach, sweating the small stuff, is a plan that works. It gets results. It's a proven success.

Bickering isn't productive. Getting all huffy when criticized is so vain.

Too bad Barrett doesn't want to emulate Giuliani.

Milwaukee might be a much better place if he did.

By the way, where is Jim Doyle as the largest city in his state decays into a criminal's paradise?

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Here is more (not much) on Joseph Munz, the murdered UWM student.

He was from Lodi, Wisconsin.

He was in the UWM School of Business.

He was working as a delivery driver for Jimmy John's when he was shot and killed.