MILWAUKEE – Milwaukee County leaders are moving forward with a plan to collect unpaid fees owed to the medical examiner’s office by funeral homes.

What we know:

A Milwaukee County committee on Tuesday, March 10, advanced legislation allowing the county attorney to pursue collections from funeral homes with large outstanding debts owed to the Milwaukee County Medical Examiner’s Office.

Earlier this year, the medical examiner’s office began requiring funeral homes with outstanding balances of $25,000 or more to pay fees up front for services such as death certificates, cremation permits and body transport. Funeral homes collect those fees from families and are expected to pass them along to the county.

What they’re saying:

“What is the overall number we’re waiting on?” asked Milwaukee County Supervisor Sky Capriolo.

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“We do list 18 funeral homes that have a balance, currently, of $25,000 or more,” said Timothy Schabo, Milwaukee County Medical Examiner operations manager.

“Our hope is that, certainly, we’ll be able to avoid any litigation,” said William Davidson, deputy corporation counsel.

“If a family is paying a funeral home for services, and someone at the funeral home is not paying the county, where is that money going? We don’t know?” Capriolo asked.

Officials say it is not uncommon for funeral homes to carry large balances, and some are already aware of their debts, are on payment plans or pay quarterly. 

The medical examiner says if families cannot pay and qualify for assistance from the state or county, those fees are waived.

“I understand there is some delay for some families receiving assistance from this program,” Milwaukee County Medical Examiner Dr. Wieslawa Tlomak said. “However, the funeral homes that we are talking about haven’t been paying us for a long period of time.”

Dig deeper:

The medical examiner said the outstanding balances continue to grow. 

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Medical examiner records show four Milwaukee funeral homes currently owe a combined $1,324,100, including one funeral home with a balance of more than $512,000.

FOX6 reached out to the funeral homes for comment but has not heard back.

The legislation now heads to the full Milwaukee County Board for consideration.

MILWAUKEE – The Milwaukee Police Department is seeking the public’s assistance in locating a critically missing man, 33-year-old Nicolas Blakely.  

Missing man

What we know:

Blakely was last seen around 9:45 p.m. on Monday, March 9 in the area of Teutonia and Good Hope. 

Blakely is described as a male, black, 6’1″ tall, 160 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes.  He was last seen wearing a blue puffy jacket over a white hooded sweatshirt, with tan Nike sweatpants. 

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Police tips

What you can do:

Anyone with information is asked to call the Milwaukee Police Department District 4 at 414-935-7242.  

A 23-year-old Milwaukee man has been charged in a hit-and-run crash that killed a 44-year-old motorcyclist during the summer last year.

Jarvis L. Walker was charged March 7 with four counts: hit-and-run resulting in death, knowingly operating a vehicle without a valid license causing death, fleeing an officer and first-degree recklessly endangering safety.

The crash occurred June 7, 2025, at the intersection of North 76th Street and West Florist Avenue. Walker crashed into Wyman Kemble on his 2002 Harley-Davidson motorcycle and fled the scene, according to a criminal complaint.

Kemble suffered severe injuries in the crash and died at the scene.

Police said nearby security footage video shows Kemble was traveling northbound on 76th Street and had a green light when Walker, traveling southbound on 76th Street, crashed a rental car into Kemble while trying to make a left turn onto Florist Avenue.

Walker then exits the vehicle, grabs a backpack from the backseat and leaves the scene, the complaint said.

But a witness’ cellphone footage shows Walker return, yell something, and turn around and walk away before getting into another vehicle that just pulled over, according to the complaint.

The rental car came back to a person only identified in the complaint with the initials EW. The rental car customer told police that Walker had the vehicle during the time of the crash and Walker called him and told him that he had just been in a crash after a motorcycle ran a red light.

Ten months would pass before investigators zeroed in on Walker to arrest him.

On March 3, police had reason to believe that Walker was in the area of the 7200 block of West Marine Drive, the complaint said. Two undercover officers observed Walker get into an SUV, which exited a nearby parking lot and then immediately pulled over because the trunk was open, the complaint said.

Different officers in full uniform and an MPD squad moved in to try and arrest Walker, who was at the rear of the vehicle in the trunk, according to the complaint.

Walker then made his way back to his seat before one officer activated the squad lights and siren and exited the squad to say “Hey Jarvis, don’t do it” and “Jarvis get out of the car,” the complaint said.

But Walker fled the scene and led police on a nearly 10-mile pursuit in excess of 115 miles per hour, according to the complaint.

Police lost visual sight of Walker’s vehicle near North Teutonia Avenue and North Green Bay Avenue, but Glendale police observed the vehicle traveling southbound on West Green Bay Road and another short pursuit ensued before officers lost sight of Walker again, the complaint said.

Later that evening, Walker’s vehicle was observed unoccupied and running in the 4800 block of North 19th Place, according to the complaint. Police found Walker inside a nearby residence and arrested him.

Walker made his initial appearance in court on March 9, where bail was set at $25,000. If convicted on all counts, he faces decades behind bars.