Riley W. Campbell was a 43-year-old Black/African American taxicab driver working in Milwaukee when a routine fare on May 4, 1971, turned deadly. Campbell picked up a passenger near North 11th Street and West Atkinson Avenue; investigators concluded the passenger shot Campbell during a robbery. Despite being wounded, Campbell’s cab kept moving until it crashed into a residence at 3306 North Palmer Street. The collision apparently injured the suspect as well, but that person escaped from the scene before police could take him into custody.

Campbell survived for about two weeks after the attack and died on May 18, 1971, from his injuries. No record indicates the fleeing suspect was ever arrested, formally identified, charged, or prosecuted in connection with the killing. Decades later Milwaukee police continued to list Campbell’s death as an unsolved homicide. If anyone knew Riley Campbell, rode with him, or has information about that May 1971 fare and the person who escaped after the crash, please come forward.