On the evening of September 12, 2016, 21-year-old Nix Franklin Jr. was shot and killed inside the apartment where his mother lived in the Village of Brown Deer, a Milwaukee suburb. The shooting occurred after an argument between Franklin and his mother’s 61-year-old friend, Jessie James, who reportedly felt disrespected. James retrieved a 12-gauge shotgun and fired a single shot that struck Franklin in the abdomen. Franklin was taken to a local hospital and pronounced dead.

Police arrested James at the scene after witnesses heard him say he couldn’t believe he had shot Franklin. Investigators recovered the shotgun and a box of unspent shells; James later told detectives he shot Franklin because he felt disrespected and that Franklin had been staying with them about a week. James was charged with second-degree reckless homicide with a dangerous weapon; in December 2016 he pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 20 years in prison followed by 10 years of extended supervision. The killing echoed a previous family tragedy: Franklin’s father, Mannix Franklin Sr., had been shot and killed by Milwaukee police in 2003.

If anyone knew Nix, where he stayed, or witnessed what happened that night, please share information with investigators.