On April 6, 2020, Javon Lattimore, a 28-year-old Black man, was working under a red Chevy Impala in the parking lot of an auto parts store in Milwaukee when gunfire erupted nearby. He was not involved in the dispute that sparked the shooting. Witnesses say an argument between Henry L. Watson and another man escalated, and Watson drew a handgun, firing multiple times. Lattimore was struck four times and died at the scene; the intended target survived.

A witness later identified Watson from a photo array and said they saw him fire seven or eight shots toward the Impala. Watson was arrested and tried. His defense argued he acted in self-defense against the man he had argued with; the jury acquitted him on charges tied to that confrontation but convicted him of homicide by negligent handling of a dangerous weapon for Lattimore’s death. Appeals challenging jury instructions and counsel were denied and the conviction was upheld on the grounds that a self-defense claim did not cover the unintended killing of a bystander.

If anyone knew Javon, was at the auto parts store that day, or has information about the shooting, please come forward.