Milwaukee, WI
Boy on bike killed, Milwaukee man gets 10 years in prison
Tyrone Reese Jr.; Sylvester Thomas
MILWAUKEE – A Milwaukee man has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for a 2023 crash that killed 11-year-old Tyrone Reese Jr.
Court records show 31-year-old Sylvester Thomas pleaded guilty on Friday, Feb. 23 to second-degree reckless homicide. As part of a deal with prosecutors, a charge of hit-and-run involving death was dismissed.
Thomas previously pleaded not guilty to charges. In addition to prison time, he was sentenced to seven years of extended supervision.
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Case details
Prosecutors said Thomas may have been racing another car when he hit the boy near Fond du Lac and Capitol last August.
Police were called to the scene around 3:15 p.m. that Sunday. Fire department personnel were already performing CPR on Reese when officers arrived. The boy was taken to a hospital with severe injuries and died of those injuries on Aug. 30, 2023.
Crash scene on W. Fond du Lac Avenue, Milwaukee
A witness told police he saw two cars – a white Lexus and a black Dodge – speeding down Fond du Lac and “believed them to be racing,” a criminal complaint states. The witness said he saw the Dodge swerve to avoid Reese, who was riding his bike, before the Lexus hit the 11-year-old.
Another witness told police, per the complaint, that he saw the same two cars speeding down Fond du Lac before the Lexus hit Reese.
Police spoke to the driver of the Dodge. He told police, per the complaint, that he was driving down Fond du Lac and saw two boys riding their bikes and heard a “loud bang” after he passed them. He looked in his rearview mirror and saw one of the boys and a bike “fly into the air.” He then saw a Lexus pass him, and said he decided to follow it because he thought the Lexus hit the boy. He also took a picture of the Lexus – which captured the license plate.
Later, the complaint states the Dodge driver told police he saw the Lexus stop. A man got out of the passenger side, and the Dodge driver said he went back to the crash scene as the Lexus drove away. The Dodge driver said he saw the man who got out of the Lexus walking toward the crash scene.
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The passenger who had gotten out of the Lexus told police that the Challenger pulled up next to them at a stoplight near 51st and Fond du Lac and “was trying to race.” When the light turned green, they sped off.
Police watched surveillance from the area of the crash which showed the Lexus and Dodge driving east on Fond du Lac moments before Reese was hit. Both cars were driving toward where Reese was hit, the complaint states, at “speeds that were obviously much faster than other cars driving on the street.” The speed limit where the crash happened is 30 mph.
Thomas turned himself in on Aug. 28, 2023 and told police he was the driver of the Lexus, per the complaint. He told investigators he thought the Challenger hit the boy first and that he only hit the 11-year-old after. However, the Challenger had no damage that prosecutors said “would be consistent with having hit” the boy.
The complaint states Thomas’ car, meanwhile, had “severe front end damage including a crushed front hood.” The Lexus’ windshield was also smashed and had “what appeared to be marks from the crank of a bicycle on the hood.”
Community members and city leaders celebrated the opening of four new community-powered fridges on the North Side of Milwaukee. A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held on Friday, Feb. 27, at Metcalfe Park Community Bridges, 3624 W. North Ave., to mark the occasion.
The effort to fight food scarcity by opening community-powered fridges comes after several grocery stores closed in the area, creating a food desert.
District 15 Ald. Russell W. Stamper II, who saw several grocery stores in his district close over the past few years, served as the event’s emcee.
“We could either complain about the problem, or we could come together to find a solution,” Stamper said.
In July 2025, a Pick ‘n Save on the North Side closed, prompting the opening of a community-powered fridge at Tricklebee Café in the Sherman Park and Uptown area. Since then, several other grocery stores have closed in the area.
This led Stamper, FEED MKE, Metcalfe Park Community Bridges and One MKE to open four more community-powered fridges.
Christie Melby-Gibbons, executive director of Tricklebee Café, talked about the organization’s community-powered fridge. About a week ago, the fridge was empty for the first time since its launch, so staff turned to their online community for support.
“Within 20 minutes, a woman came in with bags of food and filled the fridge for less than $100,” Melby-Gibbons said.
The community-powered fridge network is run by residents on a take-what-you-need, leave-what-you-can model. Taking a grassroots approach to solving food insecurity in the area, community members provide fresh produce and other healthy food options to ensure that their neighbors have access to nutritious foods.
“Everybody deserves to eat. I can’t go to sleep at night knowing my neighbors are hungry,” said Melody McCurtis, deputy director of Metcalfe Park Community Bridges.
Here’s a list of all the community-powered fridges:
Metcalfe Park Community Bridges
3624 W. North Ave.
Rooted & Rising- Washington Park
3940 W. Lisbon Ave.
Sherman Park Community Association
3526 W. Fond du Lac Ave.
Dominican Center
2470 W. Locust St.
Tricklebee Café
4424 W. North Ave.
Jonathan Aguilar is a visual journalist at Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service who is supported through a partnership between CatchLight Local and Report for America.
This article first appeared on Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
The Milwaukee Brewers were one of the more active teams in the league this offseason and it was one of the more shocking storylines to follow all winter.
They opted to trade Freddy Peralta to the New York Mets, which was a blockbuster deal, but it was expected. Peralta was on an expiring contract, and the Brewers were unlikely to be able to land a long-term deal with him. Milwaukee would much rather have control of Brandon Sproat and Jett Williams for the next five to seven years rather than a singular year of Peralta.
But they also traded Isaac Collins to the Kansas City Royals and Caleb Durbin to the Boston Red Sox. The Collins deal was a head scratcher, but the Durbin deal was the most shocking move of Milwaukee’s offseason.
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The Brewers traded Durbin and two other infielders to Boston in exchange for Kyle Harrison, David Hamilton, and Shane Drohan. Harrison is the biggest addition of the trade. Drohan has already flashed dominant potential this spring. Hamilton, who struggled last season, seemingly has the full belief of Brewers manager Pat Murphy.
David Hamilton could soon become a star for the Brewers
“He’s got so much ability in there, and he’s got experience, and he might be a utility player but I think he can be really good for us. I think he can take his offensive game to a whole other level,” Murphy said when talking about Hamilton, per Brewers beat writer Adam McCalvy.
Last season, Hamilton slashed .198/.257/.333 with a .590 OPS and a 63 OPS+. It was his third year in the big leagues and his second full year at the level and he’s yet to post an OPS+ over 100. But he’s still been worth 3.6 WAR over the last two years because of his defense and baserunning. The issue has been his bat. Even when he hit .248 in 2024, his OPS was under .700.
But Murphy seemingly believes Hamilton could take the next step at the plate, which would set him up to be a very good platoon infielder and versatile bat. He has the chance to quietly develop into a star with the Brewers if he can get his OPS over .700 and closer to .750. Obviously, this isn’t going to be easy, but Murphy seems to believe he’s closer to this breakout than many fans assume.
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