RACINE — The case against a man accused of shooting at two Case High School students may move forward with one less charge after one of the victims failed to appear in court to testify.
Tyrese Love, 20, was initially charged with two counts of attempted first-degree intentional homicide with use of a dangerous weapon for allegedly shooting at two Case High School students, Zysean Golden, 17, and Jose Deleon, 18, during a verbal altercation over the lunch break.
Golden was shot once but lived to testify on Tuesday. Deleon did not appear in court, despite a subpoena, and a material witness warrant was issued.
The trial is underway in Racine County Circuit Court. The jury is expected to get the case on Thursday.
Defense motion
The presentation of witnesses and evidence in the trial concluded on Wednesday. After the conclusion of the Racine County DA’s case, the defense made a motion to have count 2 dismissed.
Xavier Solis, who represents the defendant, argued his client was denied the right to confront his accuser when Deleon failed to show up in court to testify.
The U.S. Constitution’s Sixth Amendment confrontation clause gives defendants the right to face their accuser and ask questions that might discredit the witness.
Solis also argued there was insufficient evidence that Deleon’s life was threatened.
“There is no testimony that his life was in danger during this time,” Solis argued and added it was not clear from the testimony where Deleon was when the shots were fired.
Judge Eugene Gasiorkiewicz agreed, calling it “speculation” whether Deleon’s life was in danger.
The only person who testified to where Deleon was at the time of the shooting was Golden, who admitted on the stand his memory of the day was limited.
“Mr. Golden’s recollections are somewhat sketchy in this regard,” Gasiorkiewicz said.
Gasiorkiewicz granted the defense motion but left open the possibility the Racine County DA’s Office could still include a lesser offense on both counts.
Case history
The Mount Pleasant Police Department was dispatched on Sept. 28, 2022, to the parking lot of the Delta Hotel, 7111 Washington Ave., for a shooting. The call to 911 was made by Golden, who was taken by Flight for Life to Children’s Hospital in Wauwatosa.
Two witnesses, both friends of the defendant, testified on Tuesday to the events that led to the confrontation in the Delta Hotel parking lot.
On the day of the shooting, Love went to Case High School with lunch to eat with friends, including his girlfriend and another friend, RJ. The friends sat by the pond near the school campus and had lunch before heading across the street to Dairy Queen.
According to testimony, Dairy Queen was packed with Case students and was loud. Several students began yelling at the group and they surmised it was because of a fight RJ was in earlier in the day. They felt “uncomfortable” and decided to go to Kwik Trip.
As the four friends were walking back to school, they encountered two of the people from Dairy Queen – Golden and Deleon – and a verbal altercation began. Two witnesses testified that Love took out his gun.
Love acknowledged to investigators that he took out his gun but denied firing it.
Shooting causes chaos, blackout for one witness
Love’s former girlfriend said people from two groups “started screaming at each other” and it seemed like there was going to be a fight. She blacked out after the sound of the shooting, she said.
When asked if she was scared, she responded, “100 percent.”
A second person in the group that day testified the only gun she saw was in the hand of Love, but she did not say she saw him shoot it.
“All I heard was the shots,” she said. “I froze when I heard them.”
After the shooting, the three students from Case went back to school and Love left the area on his bike. Later that evening, he took an Uber to Chicago where he was later arrested.
Court news
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