Class Overhears Fatal Shooting Of Wisconsin Student’s Mother During Online Lesson
A teacher called 911 for help after Mario Stokes allegedly murdered his sister following a fight.
Mario Stokes [Milwaukee County Sheriff's Office]
A Wisconsin mother’s fatal shooting was overheard during a virtual class by students and a teacher, who called 911 for help.
According to investigators from the Milwaukee Police Department, on Sept. 10, Mario Stokes, 45, got into an argument with his older sister, Michelle Blackmon. At around 8:20 a.m. the following morning, he allegedly shot the 52-year-old pastor twice in the head in their kitchen.
Milwaukee Public Schools confirmed Blackmon’s child was on a Google Classroom remote learning session at the time, WTMJ-TV reported.
According to a criminal complaint obtained by WITI, another sister of the suspect claimed that “the defendant had been talking crazy” the morning of the shooting and “she awoke to the sound of 5 gunshots.”
As he left the scene, Stokes allegedly told the second sister, “I’m on my way to the police to turn myself in,” the criminal complaint states.
Stokes then walked into the MPD District 4 headquarters, which sits directly across the street from the crime scene, and allegedly admitted to the desk sergeant that “his sister no longer existed, that he did it and that he used a .380,” the complaint reads.
Police later found a Bodyguard .380 Smith & Wesson handgun at the home.
A judge and the Milwaukee County District Attorney's Office reportedly have ordered Stokes to undergo a mental health evaluation.
Stokes has been charged with one count each of possession of a firearm by a felon and first-degree reckless homicide with a dangerous weapon. He faces a sentence of up to 60 years behind bars if he’s found competent to stand trial and convicted of the crimes, according to WISN-TV.
In 2014, the Milwaukee station reported, Stokes was found not guilty due to mental disease or defect of possession of a firearm by a felon and disorderly conduct.
Blackmon’s neighbor, Larry King, told WTMJ-TV the shooting death was “real sad” and that “you never know how a person is feeling as far as mental health-wise.”
“We’ve got to look out for each other and pray for one another,” he added.
