Prosecutors: Attempted hit on murder witness thwarted in Milwaukee
MILWAUKEE -- Law enforcement officers used recordings of jailhouse phone calls and video chats to foil an attempted hit on a homicide witness, Milwaukee County prosecutors said Thursday.
Three men and a woman from the city have been charged with conspiracy to commit first-degree intentional homicide and other felonies, according to a criminal complaint filed in Milwaukee County Circuit Court.
It said the four defendants conspired to kill John Spivey, a man investigators learned had witnessed the fatal shooting of Eddie Powe in Milwaukee last July. One of the four defendants, Antonio Smith, 33, is charged with killing Powe.
Powe died of six gunshot wounds fired on July 11, according to CBS affiliate WDJT.
The day after the shooting, John Spivey was arrested for unlawful possession of a Glock .40 semi-automatic pistol. Law enforcement then learned Spivey was an eyewitness to Powe's homicide.
Spivey told police he saw a male subject known as 'Tone' - later identified as Antonio Smith, according to the criminal complaint - shoot and kill Powe with a handgun. He said Powe's girlfriend was also at the scene of the murder, according to the station.
Spivey was granted bond under the condition a pre-trial monitoring bracelet would be fitted to him.
Powe's girlfriend, Breanna Eskridge, was shot and killed by an unknown male assailant on July 19, the station reported. And Smith, who was arrested on Aug. 24, is said to have conspired with the other defendants while he was in the Milwaukee County Jail to have Spivey killed.
Prosecutors said he directed his girlfriend, Shantrell Lyons, 20, his nephew, Shaheem Smith, 21 and Lorenzo Beaton, 34, to carry out the hit.
Investigators recorded Smith's phone calls and two-way video chats from the jail, according to the complaint. Smith directed Lyons and another defendant to pay $7,600 cash bail to get Spivey out of jail where he was being held on a gun possession charge, prosecutors said.
But investigators intercepted Spivey and discreetly moved him to a secure location, knowing that Lyons, Beaton and another individual were waiting outside the jail for him to be released. Authorities said that in another recorded call from jail, Smith could be heard yelling at Lyons about the failure to find Spivey.
Later that evening, investigators said they spotted the defendants' vehicle parked outside Spivey's house and when officers approached, the vehicle took off. Lyons, Beaton and Shaheem Smith were arrested the following day.
Antonio Smith's attorney, Daniel Sanders, said his client is presumed innocent until proven guilty. Lyons' attorney did not immediately return a call and lawyers for the other two defendants were not listed in court records.
"Because of his incredible work by the law enforcement agencies involved, we were able to prevent a homicide from occurring," Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm said at a news conference Thursday. Chisholm also credited the county's program that protects witnesses. Those witnesses "can seek justice in the proper form, which is here, not out on the street," he said. The Wisconsin Department of Justice, the Milwaukee County Sheriff's Department and Milwaukee police cooperated on the investigation.
An investigation into the death of Breanna Eskridge is ongoing.