Milwaukee Bucks guard Patrick Beverley (oblique) is active for Tuesday’s Game 5 contest against the Indiana Pacers.

MILWAUKEE – A Milwaukee County judge sentenced Joel Blake on Monday, April 29 to life in prison in the shooting death of Dominic Carter in September 2021.

Blake was found guilty at trial in March on three charges against him – first-degree intentional homicide, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and felony bail jumping.

Case details

Prosecutors say Joel Blake was 22 years old in 2021 when he shot Carter, a Milwaukee barber and youth mentor, multiple times at a pizza restaurant near Silver Spring and Lovers Lane.

According to a criminal complaint, police were called to the restaurant and found Carter on the floor – suffering from “numerous” gunshot wounds. Officers attempted life-saving measures, but Carter died.

Security video from the restaurant showed Carter walk in around 3:10 p.m. that day, standing near the door. Roughly one minute after Carter walked in, a suspect – since identified as Blake – approached the restaurant’s door. The suspect was wearing gloves with a distinct marking. The suspect opened the door, raised his arm and fired his gun at Carter before fleeing on foot.

A witness told police that they heard three gunshots and saw a man run from the restaurant with his hand in his pocket, “consistent with concealing an object,” the complaint states. The man got into the driver’s seat of a black Acura and drove off.

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Another witness told police, the complaint states, that they saw a black Acura circling the parking lot that day. The witness said the car had a temporary, expired license plate and identified the number for police. The witness also said they saw Carter walk over from his nearby barbershop. A short time later, the witness said, a man “jumped out of the Acura,” walked toward the restaurant and appeared to be concealing a weapon.

The witness said they continued to watch the man, suspecting that the restaurant was about to get robbed. According to the complaint, the witness watched the suspect “fling open the door” to the restaurant and shoot before getting back in the Acura and driving away.

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At around 10:45 p.m. the night of the homicide, police were called to an area near 107th and Mill for a reported vehicle fire. The complaint states the area is known to be frequented by members of the “Wild 100s” street gang.

Using the temporary license plate number given by the witness, police found it was registered to a 2002 black Acura and noted a VIN. A black Acura with the same VIN was the car that was on fire. According to the complaint, the fire was set by someone at two different points.

A confidential informant identified Blake from a photo as the homicide suspect, the complaint states. Blake is known to be associated with the Wild 100s, according to the complaint, and the informant provided information related to people getting the gasoline used to set the Acura on fire.

Law enforcement used that information to review security footage from a gas station near 27th and Capitol. Video showed a man – determined to be Blake, according to the complaint – with an Acura lanyard and a body type consistent with the shooter in the restaurant security video; he also had gloves bearing the same distinct marking. In the gas station footage, the man buys a gas can, fills it and drives off in a red vehicle.

Police reviewed Blake’s Facebook page and found a video posted on Sept. 20 in which he allegedly claimed he was shot at in retaliation for Carter’s death, the complaint states. In the video, Blake said: “I know what I did, you know what I did.” Later, Blake said, “Yeah, I did it to him,” – consistent with bragging about committing homicide, according to the complaint. In the video, Blake was seen wearing the same Acura lanyard and distinctly marked gloves. 

In other Facebook posts, Blake gave out his phone number. Police obtained a search warrant for records related to that number. GPS data showed that the phone was headed southbound on Lovers Lane and passed the pizza restaurant on Silver Spring roughly 15 minutes before the shooting took place. The data showed the phone circled the area within minutes of the shooting. There was a data gap until roughly 10 minutes after the shooting, but the phone was then placed near where the black Acura was later found on fire. 

In 2022, Nicole Dachs approached her friend Jamie Robarge, a photographer in Milwaukee, to ask if she’d be interested in hosting a period party. Dachs volunteers weekly at the Milwaukee Diaper Mission, packing period kits — free kits of pads and tampons, which the group then distributes to organizations to provide to people in need.

The period kit program is part of a goal to end period poverty. According to the Alliance for Period Supplies, two in five people who menstruate struggle to afford menstruation supplies, which leads to their missing work, school and activities.

Robarge had heard of the Milwaukee Diaper Mission’s work to supply free diapers to caregivers in need, and was eager to help out with the mission to supply free period products as well.

In December of 2022, the friends hosted their first period poverty at Robarge’s photography studio. They collected about 5,000 pads and tampons, and raised $1,000 for period products, all of which they donated to the Milwaukee Diaper Mission. Then the friends decided to host another one just six months later, to coincide with Period Poverty Awareness Week in May. This one was at Boone & Crockett and even more popular, raising more than $3,000 and collecting 25,000 pads and tampons.

And, they’re hoping that their next party, coming up on May 19, will be their biggest period party yet. Here’s what Robarge and Dachs have to say about their upcoming event.

What is a period party?

Dachs: Whenever I pack period kits for the Milwaukee Diaper Mission, it’s like they fly off the shelves so I know there’s a need for pads and tampons. I wanted to host a drive to help supply them with more, but I also really love throwing parties. I didn’t want to just host a drive; I wanted to make it a party and something that’s fun to celebrate menstruation vs. it being a taboo that people don’t talk about. I want it to be loud and in every room and accepted that it’s just a part of life that more than half the population experiences.

Robarge: At our period parties, we encourage people to bring tampons and pads, and then we also have local businesses that donate raffle items. So we raise money through the raffle to buy more pads and tampons.

What can people expect at this year’s period party?

Robarge: Our party this year is at Enlightened Brewing Company, 2020 S. Allis St., from 1 to 4 p.m. We’ll have people donate pads and tampons again and have a raffle again. We’re also going to have music and we’ll have the street blocked off with food vendors. There will be baked treats and Enlightened will have a featured drink. We’ll also be incorporating some form of visual art.

Why don’t more people know about period poverty?

Robarge: People stigmatize menstruation. We all have personal stories like in high school, whispering to someone that you need a tampon and then hiding it up the sleeve of your sweatshirt. And personal stories aside, last year when we were planning the party, we reached out to businesses to help us collect period products. One business only put up signage in the women’s locker room so the drive wasn’t seen anywhere else in that business. Why shouldn’t that signage be put out in a more public space, in the main lobby? That was an eye-opener for me about how periods are stigmatized.

What else do you do to raise period awareness and combat period poverty?

Dachs: I’ve been paying more attention when I’m out in public and in public restrooms. I see the vending machines that are supposedly providing products, but they’re empty or you have to pay for them, or a business says you have to see the manager for the products. It’s just unfair.

I have a goal to see more period products available in all public spaces for free.

So I’ve started covering yogurt containers in decorative fabric to make baskets and asking several businesses if they’d be willing to host the baskets in their bathrooms and provide free period products for people. The businesses that have agreed, I set them up with the basket and a certificate of recognition that says the business is making the pledge to support menstruators by providing products for free.

A few times where I work, people have told me, “I’m so grateful this is here; you saved me today.” People feel seen and know there are other people who understand and know these products are needed and care enough to put them out there.