Milwaukee, WI - Three-year-old Brooklyn Harris' mother walked out of the courtroom Thursday morning after the man accused of killing her daughter pleaded not guilty.
Antonio Bratcher is accused of shooting and killing 3-year-old Brooklyn Harris. He appeared in court for a preliminary hearing Thursday morning —just two days after the family laid Harris to rest.
“The 3-year-old sustained a single gunshot wound to the right side of her head," Jeffrey Sullivan, MPD detective, said. "The bullet traveled through her head [and] exited out of the left side of her head."
The 39-year-old has been charged with first-degree reckless homicide in a suspected road rage shooting, and although the criminal complaint notes Bratcher as the sole occupant of the vehicle linked to the shots fired, the defense questions the validity of Bratcher actually firing the shots.
“[Police found] prints connected to Antonio Bratcher, at least one print on the magazine, correct?” Nathan Opland-Dobs, defense attorney, asked.
“His thumbprint,” Detective Sullivan confirmed.
“Not on the gun at this point, right?” Opland-Dobs asked.
“It’s very difficult to get prints off guns. The gun was swabbed for DNA. Those tests are now at the crime lab,” Detective Sullivan said.
The defense then asked for the case to be dismissed, suggesting the state’s failure to present probable cause, but Judicial Court Commissioner Barry Phillips disagreed.
“Based on the testimony placed in this record, I do find that there is cause to believe that a felony probably was committed in the county of Milwaukee and probably committed by this defendant," Phillips said. "Therefore, he's bound over for trial."
