Twelve-year-old Marquell A. Newburn will never again get to hug his mother, Rishon Tharp.
He didn’t get to see his freshman year in high school or graduate.
Deandre Davis’ decision to play with a loaded handgun one fateful afternoon last year is the reason why.
Davis, 16, wept in court on July 16 as he apologized for killing Marquell in front of two other friends, calling the deadly incident his biggest regret.
Davis pleaded guilty to second-degree reckless homicide. He was 15 at the time of the Oct. 26, 2024 shooting, and maintained it was an accident.
Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Jeffrey Wagner ordered Davis to spend the next seven years behind bars. He also will need to serve eight years of extended supervision once his prison time is over.
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Marquell Newburn was 12 when he was fatally shot by a friend on Oct. 26, 2024 in Milwaukee. Deandre Davis, 17, claimed the shooting was accidental and pleaded guilty July 16, 2025 to second-degree reckless homicide.
What does the law say about defendants who are so young?
Wisconsin law allows for children as young as 10 to be charged as adults for certain serious crimes, at least to start the case. Those crimes include first-degree intentional homicide, first-degree reckless homicide and attempted first-degree intentional homicide.
Davis initially was charged with first-degree reckless homicide, use of a dangerous weapon.
At sentencing, Davis gave up the right to seek a reverse waiver, which would have offered him a chance to have his case moved to juvenile court, where more emphasis is placed on age-appropriate programming and punishments.
Davis opted instead to plead guilty in adult court to a lesser charge.
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Here’s how prosecutors say the deadly incident unfolded that afternoon
Davis told investigators he thought he had put the safety on before pointing the firearm at Marquell. When the gun went off, it struck Marquell in the face, according to the complaint.
When police arrived to a home on the 2600 block of North 48th Street, they were directed to a minivan in the back yard. That’s where they found Marquell inside the vehicle, unresponsive.
According to a criminal complaint, Marquell told Davis not to point the firearm at him, but Davis, jokingly and sarcastically, wouldn’t backdown.
“He lost is life from me playing around,” Davis said through tears. “I just wish he was still here.”
There were two other juveniles in the van when Marquell was shot. The gun belonged to one of them, Davis said in court. It was never recovered.
Data recorded during 2003–2021 by the CDC’s National Violent Death Reporting System identified nearly 1,300 unintentional firearm injury deaths among children aged 0–17 years.
Roughly two thirds of the shooters (67% of them) of shooters were playing with the firearm or showing it to others when it discharged.
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Marquell Newburn’s family still grieves
The sentence didn’t sit well with Marquell’s family, which pushed for the maximum of 20 years.
“(Marquell) was a good kid, he was very funny,” Tharp said of her son, who would have celebrated his 13th birthday next month. “I just miss him so much. He should be here.”
Brandy Moore said she was too overcome to attend her nephew’s funeral, and the family still wrestles with their loss.
“He didn’t deserve this, not at all,” Moore said.
Assistant District Attorney Ian Vance-Curzan didn’t dispute Davis’ claims the shooting was accidental, but said he needed to be held responsible because he should never have been in possession of a firearm, given his age.
“He (Davis) didn’t understand the consequences of his actions,” Vance-Curzan said. “And a 12-year-old child is dead because of it,”
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee teen is sentenced in 12-year-old Marquell Newburn’s death