A Milwaukee-area teenager is wanted by police after being charged in the fatal shooting of a classmate, according to prosecutors.
The Milwaukee County District Attorney’s office identified the suspect as Robbiel Stokes, 15, who now faces a charge of first-degree intentional homicide. A criminal complaint reviewed by Law&Crime states that officers were called to a shooting in Milwaukee just before 5 p.m. on Sept. 19. When they arrived, they found 16-year-old Camron Bowen lying in the street with multiple gunshot wounds. He died at the scene.
Investigators said surveillance footage captured Camron riding a county bus shortly before the shooting, seated behind Stokes. The complaint describes the two boys engaging in a “heated” conversation before stepping off the bus together.
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The bus driver told investigators he believed he’d picked up both teens at the same stop, and that they had been sitting near one another toward the back. When he pulled over for a routine stop, both boys exited around the same time. As other riders were still stepping off, the driver said he heard gunfire and saw Camron sprinting away from Stokes, who he claimed was aiming a “silver pistol” at him.
According to the complaint, the driver recalled watching Stokes close the distance on Camron and fire several shots, then pause briefly to look at him before fleeing the scene. The driver immediately radioed dispatchers to alert them to what had happened.
Police say that just six seconds after the pair got off the bus, Stokes pulled a handgun from his hoodie while Camron’s back was turned and began firing. Camron ran into the road in an apparent attempt to get away, collapsing in the middle of the street, where investigators believe he died.
The complaint states that Stokes’ mother told police her son had phoned her around 4:57 p.m. asking to be picked up. She said she found him on the street, drenched from the rain, and drove him to his grandmother’s house. When officers later showed her two photos tied to the shooting, she identified her son as the person pictured. She consented to a search of her car, and police recovered a Federal .40-caliber Smith & Wesson cartridge on the back-seat floor — matching the brand and caliber of shell casings found where Camron was shot.
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The principal of the school both teens attended told investigators that Camron and Stokes had gotten into a fight just three days before the shooting.
Prosecutors obtained a warrant for Stokes’ arrest on Friday, and he has not yet been located. Speaking to local NBC affiliate WTMJ, Camron’s mother, Jennifer Cassidy, said, “I’m happy that I know who it is. I’m happy that I know it was exactly what I suspected. It is just hard because he is not caught yet. I just don’t want this happening to anybody else.”
Camron had celebrated his 16th birthday just a week before he was killed.
