MILWAUKEE — Days after a Milwaukee woman was gunned down, her family gathered in grief to hold a vigil in her honor as they continued to look for answers.
Friday night Lakeyshia Timmons’ loved ones held hands in prayer near 18th and Hadley where the mother of eight was killed Monday.
“My daughter did not deserve to die like this,” Timmons’ mother said. “She was a hard-working mother. She loved her kids. She would do anything for her kids.”
Wednesday, prosecutors charged 52-year-old Ronald Fuller with first-degree reckless homicide. If convicted, he faces up to 60 years in prison.
Timmons' family said the pair had three children together and were going through a messy custody dispute. Her mother said Timmons was killed four days after she won the custody battle.
“My daughter went to go it a restraining order put on him,” she said, “the judge denied it.”
Court records show Fuller told investigators he only intended to wound Timmons because he wanted to take care of his kids.
"Yes, I did shoot her. Why? I don't have an answer," he reportedly said. He also said the devil made him walk over to Timmons's house Monday.
“She reported everything that he did all of his tactics, nothing was done,” Timmons’ daughter Latanilia Timmons added. “This won’t rest until something is done.”
The family is questioning why more wasn’t done to protect Timmons and why the restraining order wasn’t granted.
Carmen Pitre said sadly stories like Timmons’ involving violence are on the rise in Milwaukee. Pitre serves as President and CEO of Soujourner, a Milwaukee group that provides domestic violence prevention and intervention services.
She also said for survivors and their families the court process can be complex and it’s not uncommon for judges to deny restraining orders over a lack of evidence.
“Systems are designed to operate in certain ways and sometimes they don’t operate the way we need them to,” Pitre said “We need to be vigilant about that. There’s always room for improvement.”
It’s why family said they are requesting a meeting with Milwaukee’s mayor, police chief, and other city leaders, hoping to make it so no one else has to go through what Timmons did.
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