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A Milwaukee man is accused of killing two people after the judge refused to increase their bail

by November 12, 2024

Daeshaun Graves had already been charged with armed robbery and was out on bail when he arrived at a hospital with gunshot wounds on Jan. 31.

Police found security footage that showed the 20-year-old pointing a gun at someone before he was shot – a violation of the terms of his interim supervision in the armed robbery case.

The next day, prosecutors asked the judge to increase his bail from $10,000 to $100,000. Judge Danielle Shelton refused.

Graves remained free.

In the months that followed, Graves shot two people, including his uncle Darrell Antwon Harbor in July, according to prosecutors, and is charged with first-degree manslaughter.

A month after his uncle was shot, on August 4, Graves allegedly shot and killed Quincy Smith of Milwaukee following an argument when Smith found Graves with his sometime girlfriend. He would burn the vehicle with Smith’s body inside, prosecutors say.

Shelton declined to discuss the decision not to increase his bond in the armed robbery case, citing the ongoing proceedings against Graves.

However, in an email response to the Journal Sentinel, the judge explained the “fundamental principles” of the criminal justice system and the process for requesting bail in the courtroom.

“It is a fundamental tenet of our criminal justice system that a defendant is innocent until proven guilty. The burden of proving a defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt lies with the State and the State alone,” she said in the email. “If there are allegations that a defendant has violated bail conditions, the state may request an increase in bail.”

According to the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office jail roster, Graves remains in jail on $1 million bail following the two involuntary manslaughter charges.

Prosecutors are requesting an increase in Graves’ bail, which is denied despite allegedly violating conditions

According to a criminal complaint, Graves’ bail plea stems from a June 2023 case in which Graves is alleged to have participated in an armed robbery.

In that case, Graves allegedly crashed a vehicle he was driving into another vehicle, causing the two to pull into a nearby parking lot. A woman in the car Graves was driving later pulled out a handgun and the driver fled the scene, but looked back and saw her vehicle and Graves’ vehicle driving away.

Police found the vehicle later that day and Graves later admitted his involvement to police, the criminal complaint states.

In that case, Graves was released on $10,000 bail on Aug. 7, 2023, on the condition that he not possess a firearm, according to court records. However, on February 1, prosecutors asked for his bail to be increased to $100,000, citing armed robbery, possession of a weapon, re-offense and dishonesty with police.

That request came after Graves was hospitalized with gunshot wounds on Jan. 31. The prosecutor’s request said Graves “gave false information to officers but was released from the hospital before police could obtain video of the incident.”

Officers later reviewed the video, the document said, which showed Graves pulling out a handgun and pointing it at someone else. Under the terms of his bond, Graves was not allowed to possess firearms.

On February 8, Shelton rejected the prosecutor’s request to increase his bond.

Graves was also out on bond in another case, a misdemeanor count of obstructing or resisting an officer. In this case, he is scheduled for a status conference on December 6th.

Kent Lovern, Milwaukee County’s top assistant district attorney, declined to discuss Shelton’s decision because it was an open case.

“I would say in general, if we’re asking for a bail increase, we think we have a good case for it,” Lovern told the Journal Sentinel.

Graves’ next hearing in the armed robbery case will be Dec. 6 at a status conference.

The latest indictment alleges Graves shot his uncle a month before another murder

The latest indictment against Graves was filed Nov. 4 and prosecutors accuse the 20-year-old of shooting his uncle on July 15.

The criminal complaint says Graves’ girlfriend told police he admitted to her that he shot his uncle. This shooting occurred after the two got into an argument after the uncle’s dog bit Graves and another family member.

A family member of Graves and his uncle declined to comment.

Graves told his girlfriend he had “done something bad,” the complaint states. She told police Graves was approached by his uncle, who spoke to him disrespectfully, and Graves warned him to stand down or he would shoot him.

The uncle continued to walk toward him and Graves fired, but did not intend to kill him, the complaint said. Graves aimed the gun at his uncle’s legs, but the gun was modified to be fully automatic and the gun’s recoil caused him to shoot his uncle in the stomach.

The complaint states that police reviewed security footage of the altercation, which matched the girlfriend’s statements about the incident.

This happened about a month before Graves was said to have shot Quincy Smith.

The investigation into this murder appeared to help police solve Graves’s death in his uncle’s death. The criminal complaint states that after Smith’s murder, a police officer searched Graves’ car and found a handgun that matched bullet casings found at the scene of his uncle’s death.

The Journal Sentinel was unable to reach Smith’s family for an interview.

Graves is scheduled for a Nov. 12 preliminary hearing on the July 15 manslaughter charge and a Nov. 22 hearing on the August manslaughter charge.

David Clarey can be reached at [email protected].

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