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    • A Milwaukee man allegedly killed two after a judge denied bail
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    A Milwaukee man allegedly killed two after a judge denied bail

    Online Niel Posted on

    Daeshaun Graves was already charged with armed robbery and out on bail when he arrived at a hospital with gunshot wounds on January 31.

    Police found security footage showing the 20-year-old pointing a gun at someone before he was shot – breaching the terms of his pre-trial supervision in the armed robbery case.

    The next day, prosecutors asked the judge to raise his bail from $10,000 to $100,000. The judge, Danielle Shelton, refused.

    The graves remained empty.

    In the months that followed, prosecutors say, Graves shot and killed two people — including his uncle Darrell Antwon Harbor in July — and faces first-degree reckless homicide charges in both.

    A month after his uncle was shot, on Aug. 4, Graves allegedly also shot killed Quincy Smith of Milwaukee after an altercation when Smith found Graves with his on-off girlfriend. He would burn the vehicle with Smith’s body inside, prosecutors say.

    Shelton declined to discuss the decision not to raise bail in the armed robbery case, citing open records against Graves.

    However, the judge, in an emailed response to the Journal Sentinel, emphasized the “fundamental principles” of the criminal justice system and the bail application process in the courtroom.

    “It is a fundamental principle of our criminal justice system that a defendant is innocent until proven guilty. The state and the state alone bear the burden of proving a defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt,” she said in the email. “If there are allegations that a defendant has violated bail conditions, the state can request that the bail be increased.”

    Graves remains in jail on the two counts of reckless homicide on $1 million bail, according to the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Jail List.

    Prosecutors are seeking an increase in Graves’ denied bail despite the alleged breach of conditions

    Graves’ bail jumping charge stems from a June 2023 case in which Graves allegedly contributed to an armed robbery, according to a criminal complaint.

    In that case, Graves allegedly crashed a vehicle he was driving into another vehicle, and the two stopped in a nearby parking lot. A woman in the car Graves was driving later pulled out a gun and the driver fled the scene, only to look back and see their vehicle and Graves’ vehicle drive away.

    Police found the vehicle later that day, and Graves later admitted to police his involvement, according to the criminal complaint.

    In that case, Graves was released on $10,000 cash bail on Aug. 7, 2023, on the condition that he not possess a firearm, according to court records. However, on February 1, prosecutors asked to raise his bail to $100,000, citing armed robbery, possession of a weapon, repeat offender and dishonesty with police.

    That question came after Graves went to the hospital on Jan. 31 with gunshot wounds. The prosecutor’s request said Graves “provided false information to officers but was released from the hospital before police could obtain video of the incident.”

    Officers later reviewed a video, the document said, that showed Graves drawing a gun and pointing it at someone else. Under the terms of his bond, Graves was not to possess any firearms.

    On February 8, Shelton denied the prosecutor’s request to increase his bail.

    Graves was also out on bond in another case, misdemeanor obstruction or resisting an officer. He is scheduled for a status conference in the case on Dec. 6.

    Kent Lovern, Milwaukee County’s chief deputy prosecutor, declined to discuss Shelton’s decision, citing it as an open case.

    “I would say generally when we ask for a bail increase, we believe we have a good reason to do so,” Lovern told the Journal Sentinel.

    Graves’ next hearing in the armed robbery case is Dec. 6 for a status conference.

    The latest charge alleges that Graves shot his uncle a month before another murder

    The newest charge against Graves was filed on November 4, and prosecutors say the 20-year-old shot and killed his uncle on July 15.

    The criminal complaint says Graves’ girlfriend told police he admitted to shooting and killing his uncle. That shooting happened after the two got into an argument after the uncle’s dog bit Graves and another family member.

    A family member of Graves and the uncle declined to comment.

    Graves told his girlfriend that he “did ‘something bad,'” according to the complaint. She told police that Graves was accosted by his uncle, who spoke disrespectfully to her, and Graves warned him to back off or he would shoot him.

    The uncle continued to approach him, and Graves fired, but did not intend to kill him, the complaint said. Graves pointed the gun at his uncle’s legs, but the gun was modified to be fully automatic, and the recoil of the gun caused him to shoot his uncle in the abdomen.

    The complaint says police reviewed security footage of the altercation, which matched the girlfriend’s account of the incident.

    That was about a month before Graves shot and killed Quincy Smith.

    The investigation into that crime seemed to help lead police to Graves in his uncle’s death. The criminal complaint says a police detective searched Graves’ car following Smith’s slaying and found a gun that matched bullet casings found at the crime scene of his uncle’s death.

    The Journal Sentinel could not reach Smith’s family for an interview.

    Graves is scheduled for a Nov. 12 preliminary hearing in the alleged July 15 manslaughter and a Nov. 22 scheduling conference in the alleged August homicide.

    David Clarey can be contacted at [email protected].

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