Sept. 9, 2024 6:30p
(Update 9-10--Kaliyah Patterson, 22, of Racine, was charged Tuesday with straw purchasing of a firearm. Bond was set at $50,000.)
(WGTD)---Two counts of 1st Degree Intentional Homicide were filed Monday against the man who allegedly killed a pregnant woman and her unborn daughter.
At last report, 25-year-old Lawrence Franklin was still on the run. 22-year-old Amiah Prather was found slumped over behind the wheel of her car late Friday afternoon underneath Kenosha's elevated tracks.
The victim's sister, Taziyah Wadlington, told investigators that Franklin and Prather had been arguing for most of the day in the home Wadlington shared with her sister. The three then left in Prather's car to get something to eat, with Wadlington in the front passenger seat and Franklin sitting directly behind the victim.
According to Wadlington, Prather told Franklin that if he wasn't going to pay for her food he should get out of the car.
Wadlington said she saw Franklin out of the corner of her eye appearing to prepare to exit the vehicle, but then heard a loud bang, saw smoke and realized that her sister had been shot in the head.
Wadlington fled for her safety while Franklin also took off.
According to the criminal complaint, video shot by a citizen confirms Franklin as the man who was fleeing. At the scene, police recovered a gun and a bottle of booze that Franklin was said to have been drinking that day.
The gun was purchased earlier in the day at a Paddock Lake sporting goods store. Security camera video identified Franklin and another woman as the buyers.
In a statement Monday, Kenosha Police urged Franklin to turn himself in, adding they believe that Franklin has received help while on the run.
The complaint quotes Franklin's mother as saying Franklin phoned her shortly after the shooting and told her "You'll never see me again."
At the time of the murders, Franklin had two open cases of domestic violence. Both involved Prather.
The complaint says Prather's baby did not survived an emergency C-section that was performed at Froedtert South in Pleasant Prairie, and that Prather died after being flown to a Milwaukee hospital.
-0-