Ronnel Cedric Lamar Smith was a 12-year-old Black boy from West Allis, Wisconsin, described by family as goofy, fun, laid back and loving. He was one week shy of his 13th birthday when he was fatally shot at a birthday party on the night of Saturday, February 25, 2023.

The party was held in an upstairs hall at the Bug N Out Lounge near 56th Street and Lincoln Avenue. Shortly after 9:00 p.m. gunfire erupted inside the venue. A neighbor’s surveillance camera captured dozens of young people running from the scene. Officers found two people shot; Ronnel was pronounced dead at the scene and a 17-year-old boy was taken to hospital with injuries expected to be nonfatal.

Ronnel’s grandmother, Keda Sisson, said he had been bullied on social media by other teenagers who tried to take his prescription glasses, and that a fight broke out at the party just before shots were fired. The West Allis Police Department opened a homicide investigation and was searching for a suspect; the case remains unsolved.

If anyone attended that party or has information about who fired the shots, please come forward with what you know.