MILWAUKEE — Family has identified Marquis Hacket, 47, as the man killed in Sunday night’s crash at 20th Street and North Avenue.
The Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office is still reviewing charges against five teenagers who police say were in the stolen vehicle that crashed into the car Hacket was a passenger in. None of them were even old enough to drive.
The five boys in custody for the crime are all just 13-, 14-, or 15-year-olds.
Investigators say the teens in the stolen vehicle committed an armed robbery earlier in the day and were leading police on a high-speed chase when the crash happened. Police say they recovered a gun in the car.
“I talk to him every day, but that night he didn’t answer his phone,” said Dottie Hacket, Marquis’ mom. “I went to bed not knowing my son was dead in the street.”
Marquis’ mom says you never actually think it’s going to be you or your loved one who is killed, but until this kind of reckless behavior stops, it very well could be.
“I’m so angry that these children today do not have any values,” Dottie said. “They don’t even value their own lives. It’s like we’ve lost a whole generation. They were never taught right from wrong. Where are the parents? You see families losing loved ones every night on TV. Now it’s me. My son was just caught in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
Marquis was a father of three. He had just taken his only son and youngest in the family – Marquis Jr. - to Gatorland in Florida.
“They were best friends,” said Lexxus Hacket, Marquis’ oldest daughter. “My little brother is without a father at 10 years old. That is just not right.”
Lexxus is a social worker who works to reach at-risk youth in our city every day. Her father’s death has been extremely difficult to process.
“It hurts because my dad has lost his life as a result of some of the very kids I’m working to help, and I don't want to lose more Black children to the prison system, but there needs to be accountability. The weight feels so heavy.”
