Archie Brown, 40 (WITI)
MILWAUKEE -- A man who was "distraught" and "trying to do the right thing" after he fatally struck a two-year-old with his vehicle was shot and killed along with a 15-year-old in Milwaukee on Sunday. Two-year-old Damani Terry, his 15-year-old brother Rasheed Chiles and 40-year-old Archie Brown all died after an accident that resulted in an altercation and gunfire, according to WITI.
Officials said Archie Brown was driving a van northbound on N. 48th St. when two-year-old Damani Terry ran into the road and was fatally struck. The toddler died at the scene.
Brown, whom witnesses said was distraught about hitting the child, stopped and exited the van immediately following the crash. Moments later, he was fatally shot by an unknown suspect. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Rasheed Chiles, 15, who was the brother of the two-year-old victim, was also shot by the suspect. He was taken to a hospital where he later died.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports Chiles had been attending a party at a nearby house with his two-year-old brother and was also hit during the altercation. It remains unclear why the 15-year-old was shot.
"Doing the right thing"
Credit: WITI
Brown was a well-known Milwaukee businessman. Those who knew Brown described him as a successful, caring member of the community with four children of his own. He developed and opened restaurants in the community.
Homer Blow, a Milwaukee D.J. and radio talk show host, was friends with Brown.
Blow raced to the scene Sunday evening in time to see his friend covered with a tarp.
On Blow’s live podcast Monday, he was very emotional as he talked about what happened.
“He was saying he was sorry. ‘I didn’t see the baby. I’m sorry. Call 911. I’m sorry. I’m sorry,’ and he was crying," Blow said.
Blow said moments after the accident, a man related to the toddler came out and told Brown he just signed his death certificate and shot Brown in the face.
“Just to hear how this coward took my friend’s life in cold blood for doing the right thing…” Blow said.
Blow said Brown never lost sight of helping others when he could. He owned properties, opening doors to those who were homeless, remembering the times he was homeless himself.
“He gets out and does the right thing and he loses his life,” Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett said Monday.
“I saw them alive and then I saw them deceased"
WITI spoke with a woman who says she’s overwhelmed with emotion because she saw the entire incident unfold.
“I saw them alive and then I saw them deceased. How can you get past that? What does it take?” the neighbor, who asked to remain anonymous, told WITI.
The woman says she watched helplessly Sunday evening as two-year-old Damani Terry left the nearby birthday party and tried to cross the street to Wahl Park.
“I'm going ‘the baby, the baby!’ The baby was midway in front of the car. The man couldn't see him because he was in front of a car. When the man knew he had hit something, he got out to see and when he saw it was a baby, he became very distraught,” the woman said.
That tragic event was just the beginning of what the woman witnessed. Archie Brown and Chiles were both shot and killed.
“I heard the bullets and I saw (Brown) fall. I heard the bullets and I saw (Brown) fall. I have been reliving this since I woke up,” the woman said.
Autopises on Brown, Terry and Chiles were performed Monday morning.
Milwaukee police are working to identify the shooter. Milwaukee Attorney Michael Hupy, with the law firm Hupy & Abraham is offering a $25,000 reward in this case.
