Karen A. Simek, 53, was shot and killed on January 31, 2017, in Milwaukee as she stepped out of her car after parking outside her workplace, Garden-Fresh Foods near 12th and National Avenue. The assailant approached at point-blank range during a robbery, shot her in the face, took her purse, and fled. The case initially went cold because there were no eyewitnesses and surveillance footage was not clear.

Investigators reopened leads after an unrelated arrest in December 2017. That arrestee implicated his roommate, Carl Knight, and said Knight and another roommate, Samantha Gustafson, had committed a string of robberies to pay rent; he said Knight had confessed to killing an older white woman and taking her purse. Police arrested Knight and he ultimately admitted involvement, saying the gun discharged accidentally while he was taking the purse. Knight was charged with felony murder and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and later sentenced to 31 years in prison with 12 years extended supervision. Gustafson was charged with harboring or aiding a felon and received one year of probation; charges against the informant included harboring or aiding but were later dismissed.

Karen’s family and coworkers remembered her as a wife, daughter, sister, coworker and friend. Does anyone have additional information about Karen’s last morning or saw activity near 12th and National Avenue that day?