Jonoshia M. Alexander

After attending dance practice at Bay View High School, a 17-year-old Milwaukee girl was killed while walking from the bus stop to her home.

She was shot dead, an innocent bystander.

This is so sad, and it makes me so angry. It's beyond senseless. There are no words.

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

The girl, Jonoshia M. Alexander, was not the intended target, police spokeswoman Anne E. Schwartz said. Alexander was shot about 6:55 p.m. and died outside at the scene, near N. 4th St. and W. Keefe Ave., Schwartz said.

No one is in custody in connection with the homicide, which occurred less than a half-mile from Alexander's home.

Alexander, a junior at Bay View High School, attended after-school dance practice before taking a bus home, her aunt said.

...Alexander participated in dance, theater and advanced concert choir at Bay View, said Roseann St. Aubin, a spokeswoman for Milwaukee Public Schools.

Alexander was popular among her classmates and staff and recently played a role in the school's production of "Through the Looking Glass," St. Aubin said.

...Alexander has two younger brothers, ages 16 and 9, and planned to study dance and art theater after graduating from high school, her aunt said.

"She was a great daughter, a very loving sister to her two little brothers," her aunt said. "She had a lot going for herself. She had a lot of ambition. She was planning to go to college. She was a very loved young lady."

Alexander is at least the third MPS student killed in a homicide in Milwaukee this year, St. Aubin said. Connell Latrell Clemons, 18, was shot Oct. 31. Davit L. Burton, 15, was stabbed Nov. 24. Charges have been filed in both cases.

Meanwhile, police said Thursday they are seeking the public's help in finding Markus Evans, 17, who was last seen Wednesday night in the area near where Alexander was killed. Evans is considered armed and dangerous and is wanted in connection with several shootings, but Schwartz said the Police Department is not describing him as a suspect in Alexander's killing.

...Alexander's aunt said her family has little information about the shooting but was told the shooter was "just a little boy on a rampage."

This "little boy on a rampage" stole Jonoshia's life.

It is unspeakably sad.

When thugs kill thugs, there's a sense of wasted potential due to their bad choices. But they did make the choice to live like a thug and prey on the community. It's not a shock when they die like a thug.

But when someone like Jonoshia is killed, it just tears me up. She was walking home after getting off the bus. Soon she expected to be at home with her family. Home, not dead! She couldn't have thought as she was on the bus that those would be her last moments of life.

This is such a tragedy. Jonoshia's death is such a terrible loss. My heart breaks for her family and friends.