Relatives said the victims were expecting a child as police continued investigating the late-night killings on the city’s north side.
MILWAUKEE, Wis. — Family members identified the two people killed in a north Milwaukee shooting as Giovanni McVicker and Mya Tolbert, a couple relatives said had been expecting a child, while police held a 27-year-old man in custody Tuesday pending a charging decision.
The shooting happened late Monday in the Green Tree Road area on the city’s north side and left both victims dead before help could save them, according to police and local media reports. Investigators had not publicly explained what led to the attack by Tuesday morning, but the case quickly drew wider attention after relatives shared personal details about the victims and a witness described a burst of repeated gunfire outside his window. With no criminal complaint yet filed, the families were left mourning in public while waiting for court records to fill in the missing facts.
Police said officers were called just before 10:30 p.m. Monday to the area of North Darien Street and Green Tree Road, near Teutonia Avenue, after reports of a shooting. There, investigators said, a 31-year-old woman and a 33-year-old man had both been shot multiple times and were pronounced dead at the scene. Relatives identified the victims as Tolbert, 31, and McVicker, 33. WISN reported the pair had been dating and were expecting a child in about two months. Tolbert’s family said she was seven months pregnant. McVicker’s relatives said he was a loving father of five. Those family accounts turned what began as a brief police bulletin into a story of a household shattered in a matter of minutes. Before daybreak Tuesday, television crews were already outside the scene speaking with neighbors and relatives as investigators continued their work.
A man who said he witnessed the shooting from his window told WISN the gunfire started around 10:30 p.m. He said he heard an initial shot, looked outside and saw the shooter moving back and forth between the victims before firing again. He told the station that one victim was shot repeatedly even after falling. The account could not be independently verified from publicly released police records Tuesday, and detectives had not said whether they believe the witness saw the full encounter. Still, the description offered the clearest public narrative of the violence in the absence of a charging document. Police said a 27-year-old man was taken into custody. Authorities have not publicly identified him, described his relationship to the victims, or said whether there was a confrontation before the shooting. They also have not announced whether investigators recovered a firearm, interviewed multiple witnesses, or reviewed nearby surveillance footage.
The case unfolded in a residential section of north Milwaukee where a major traffic corridor meets smaller neighborhood streets. Dispatch data from the city show shots-fired calls in the same Green Tree Road area at about 10:25 p.m. Monday, roughly matching the time given by police and witnesses. Those records offer only a snapshot of emergency calls, not a final account of what occurred, but they place the first response in a narrow window late Monday night. By Tuesday morning, the wider context was familiar in Milwaukee, where homicide investigations often begin with sparse official details and grow more complete only after prosecutors file charges. In this shooting, the public understanding moved first through grieving relatives and nearby residents. Their early comments highlighted both the emotional cost of the killings and the limits of what was officially known in the first hours after the deaths.
The legal process had started but had not yet produced the documents that usually shape a homicide case for the public. Police said the matter was being referred to the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office, which will review evidence and decide whether to file charges. That review could produce homicide counts, a probable-cause affidavit and an initial court appearance spelling out investigators’ version of events. WISN said the suspect could face first-degree intentional homicide charges, though no formal case had been announced Tuesday morning. It also remained unclear whether prosecutors would seek additional counts tied to Tolbert’s pregnancy. Those decisions depend on facts that had not been publicly released, including the suspect’s statements, witness interviews, medical findings and forensic evidence from the scene. Until those records emerge, the official story remains incomplete even though the loss to the families is already unmistakable.
The voices that came through first were those of people who knew the victims and those who heard the shooting unfold. McVicker’s relatives remembered him as outgoing and deeply involved with his children. Tolbert’s family described the couple’s coming baby as another major step in a relationship that had already tied their lives together. The witness who spoke to WISN said the gunfire jolted him into immediate fear and then helplessness when he reached the victims. His account captured the confusion of the moment, while the families’ comments gave shape to what had been taken away. In the hours after the shooting, those two strands of public testimony — terror from the scene and grief from the families — defined the case more than any formal statement did. They also underscored how quickly a neighborhood crime scene can become a private family tragedy carried out in public view.
Tuesday’s public record showed two deaths, one suspect in custody and prosecutors reviewing possible charges. The next clear turning point will come when authorities file a criminal complaint or announce in court what investigators believe happened on the block late Monday night.
Author note: Last updated March 10, 2026.