JANESVILLE Four of the five Janesville men arrested in a shooting that killed one man and hurt two others Sunday in Janesvilles Fourth Ward neighborhood are being held on a $2 million bond.
A prosecutor said the shooting scattered bullets from guns equipped with purple laser sights, striking several people and a home where children were present, according to neighbors who captured video of the deadly incident a few blocks south of Janesvilles westside downtown.
At initial court hearings on homicide and attempted homicide charges Wednesday afternoon, Rock County prosecutor Richard Sullivan made a successful play for a $2 million cash bond for 21-year-old Marshaun Jones; Demetrius Cooper, 20; Mantezz Granger, 19; and Tyshawn Howe, 19, all of Janesville.
All four appeared in court via video stream from custody at Rock County Jail.
Sullivan described a shooting spree at a South Academy Street residence in the early hours Sunday. He said it came after some of the men showed up armed in an argument he said came over girl problems a falling out in a romantic relationship Granger had with a woman who was later at the residence.
According to criminal complaints filed Wednesday, Granger was angry that his ex-girlfriend was dating someone else, and he and Cooper tried to force their way onto an enclosed porch at a residence in the 100 block of South Academy, getting physical with people at the residence.
Sullivan said the argument escalated violently, with a man getting pistol whipped in his eye. The group then left to go to Grangers vehicle, only to return when relatives of Grangers ex-girlfriend showed up, apparently coming back from a tavern and bowling alley on the south side.
Thats when authorities say multiple shooters opened fire. Bullets struck two people and fatally injured 25-year-old Janesville man Jason Kaplan, who was shot in the back as he lay on the ground, apparently already shot once in the melee, with blood pooling on the ground beneath him.
The prosecutor described the deadly gunshot as almost execution-style, saying neighbors whod heard the outburst of violence had filmed the entire incident, giving police investigators and prosecutors a view of how the violence unfolded.
Criminal complaints say at one point, a relative of Grangers ex-girlfriend had tried to encourage a bystander at the Academy Street residence to get a gun, but did not indicate that any of the bystanders were armed, or if they exchanged gunfire during the incident.
Jones, Cooper and Howe are alleged to have shot guns in the incident, with criminal complaints saying Howe shot a man in the chest, injuring him.
Witnesses said Cooper shot Kaplan in the back after pushing him down, although the complaints say Cooper and Jones both shot guns at Kaplan at one point during the shooting.
A woman on scene got shot in the hip, prosecutors say.
Granger is also believed to have been armed, and criminal complaints indicate the men had brought guns to shooting that were equipped with blue or purple laser sights and silencers.
Charles Crenshaw III, 20, did not appear in court during Wednesdays proceedings. He was arrested for bail jumping following the shooting.
Each of the four men was charged Wednesday with first-degree intentional homicide, party to a crime, as well as multiple counts of attempted first-degree homicide, party to a crime.
Jones initially was arrested on suspicion of first-degree homicide, according to a police statement Tuesday that outlined the arrests.
Court Commissioner Mason Braunschweig signed a $2 million bond for each of the four of the men, despite the mens defense attorney, public defender Spencer Olson, arguing the bond is excessive under state statute, and saying one of the men has a job, while another is studying to earn a commercial drivers license.
Jones at one point expressed surprise at the bond amount, his eyes widening with disbelief as he told Olson: Theyre going to get me (on bond) for $2 million?
The jail court gallery was packed Wednesday with friends and family of victims and family of the men accused in the deadly shooting. Multiple police were stationed outside the courthouse, monitoring the parking lot as people left the hearings, and stood on the parking deck, conversing.
All four men will appear in court later in August for initial pretrial hearings.