Investigators used witnesses, firearms evidence and statements after a standoff to build the case now headed toward a November trial.
MILWAUKEE, Wis. — Eight spent 9 mm cartridge casings recovered from two homes were among the physical traces confronting Milwaukee investigators after three people were fatally shot on Aug. 8. The larger case against Thomas Zollicoffer, however, came together through far more than ammunition evidence: surviving witnesses, observations of a departing vehicle, firearms recovered after a standoff and statements authorities say Zollicoffer later made to detectives all became pieces of a prosecution now headed toward trial.
Zollicoffer, 36, has pleaded not guilty to three counts of first-degree intentional homicide and four counts of possession of a firearm by a felon. Prosecutors accuse him of killing Vanessa DeHerrera, 26, and Scott Bucholz, 29, inside an apartment near 21st and Pierce streets and then killing Shamarla “Asir” Hare, 39, at a home near 39th Street and Townsend Avenue less than 30 minutes later. A commissioner found probable cause at an Aug. 24 preliminary hearing and ordered the case to proceed. Zollicoffer was later reported held on $1 million bail, with a November trial scheduled. None of the charges has been proven beyond a reasonable doubt.
The first crime scene contained both physical evidence and multiple surviving witnesses. Police were called to the Pierce Street apartment shortly before 10 p.m. Officers found DeHerrera and Bucholz dead from gunshot wounds and recovered six brass 9 mm casings, according to the criminal complaint. Several other people had been inside the apartment. One resident told police that DeHerrera was staying there while attempting to end her relationship with Zollicoffer. Witnesses said he arrived during the afternoon and argued with her. The complaint says he at one point handed DeHerrera a firearm, which she later returned after he indicated he planned to leave. Witnesses said he instead stayed at the apartment.
A second witness provided police with an account of the shooting itself. According to the complaint, that person said Zollicoffer pointed a gun toward DeHerrera during a confrontation and fired before turning toward other people in the room. Gunfire sent some occupants into a bedroom for safety. By the time police entered, the accused shooter was gone. Investigators also interviewed witnesses outside the building. They reported hearing gunshots and seeing unusual activity involving a white sedan, including a man running from the apartment and getting into the vehicle before it sped away. Those accounts gave detectives both an alleged shooter and a possible means of travel away from the scene.
The second crime scene created an immediate question for investigators: whether another fatal shooting elsewhere in Milwaukee was part of the same event. At the Townsend Avenue residence, witnesses described a man arriving and asking to speak with people inside. Prosecutors say that person was Zollicoffer. The complaint alleges that he confronted Hare, produced a handgun and shot her as others watched. A witness reported hearing him tell Hare, “I can’t stand you anyways.” Hare was taken to a hospital, where she died. Detectives recovered two 9 mm casings from that location. The complaint did not clearly establish a prior relationship between Hare and Zollicoffer, leaving investigators and the courts to focus instead on witness identification, timing and the alleged sequence of travel.
Police soon announced publicly that the two homicide scenes were connected and that officers were looking for one known suspect. The timeline was unusually compressed: DeHerrera and Bucholz were shot shortly before 10 p.m., and Hare was shot roughly 25 minutes later, according to local police reporting. Authorities also investigated how the suspect moved between locations. Prosecutors later accused Sengchanh Phengphonsavanh of driving Zollicoffer after the first shooting. Phengphonsavanh was charged separately with harboring or aiding a felon. He has his own case, and that allegation does not establish Zollicoffer’s guilt in the homicide prosecution.
The search for Zollicoffer continued for more than two days. On Aug. 11, police received information that brought them to a residence near 84th Street and Fiebrantz Avenue. Officers surrounded the home, and tactical personnel and crisis negotiators responded after Zollicoffer remained inside. The standoff lasted about an hour before he came outside and was taken into custody. News footage showed officers moving in after efforts to get him to surrender. Police said two loaded guns were recovered, one of them a Taurus G2C 9 mm pistol. Whether and how any recovered firearm is ultimately connected to the fatal shootings is a question for forensic evidence and the court record; the presence of a particular caliber alone does not establish that link.
Detectives then obtained another category of evidence: Zollicoffer’s own statements. The criminal complaint says he was advised of his rights before being questioned. Investigators reported that he said he had not gone to see DeHerrera intending to kill her but that he “lost it.” Authorities said he also spoke about shooting Bucholz and Hare. At the preliminary hearing, homicide Detective Brian Maciejewski described an evolution in Zollicoffer’s account. The detective testified that Zollicoffer first indicated Bucholz was responsible for shooting DeHerrera. Maciejewski said Zollicoffer then changed his statement and said he himself was responsible for shooting DeHerrera and Bucholz and later Hare. The defense will be able to challenge the statements, their circumstances and other state evidence at trial.
Investigators also built cases around what allegedly happened after the killings. Milwaukee police said another woman, Elena Cole, allowed Zollicoffer to stay at her home after the shootings even though authorities allege he told her he had killed people. Prosecutors charged Cole with harboring or aiding a felon and three child-neglect counts, alleging her children were in the residence while Zollicoffer stayed there. Police publicized her complaint along with Zollicoffer’s as part of a warning that helping a wanted person can itself lead to criminal charges. Cole’s prosecution and Phengphonsavanh’s prosecution remain legally separate from the question of whether Zollicoffer committed the three homicides.
The evidence dispute continued even after Zollicoffer entered the Milwaukee County Jail. Prosecutors filed material alleging that he used a jail-issued tablet to communicate about a witness who had information concerning the Pierce Street killings. According to court reporting, one message asked another person to tell a witness to “stop lying.” Prosecutors also cited language stating that people would “pay” for setting events in motion, which they characterized as threatening. At an Aug. 28 hearing, Judge David Borowski restricted Zollicoffer’s electronic, telephone and visitation privileges except for necessary communications with his attorneys. The judge’s order addressed the integrity of the pending prosecution rather than whether Zollicoffer committed the underlying killings.
What investigators say they assembled is therefore a layered case rather than one dependent on a single piece of evidence. The state has eyewitnesses who place Zollicoffer inside the residences, a closely spaced timeline linking the scenes, accounts of transportation after the first shooting, cartridge casings at both locations, firearms recovered when Zollicoffer was arrested and statements police attribute to him. Each category carries different evidentiary questions. Witness memories can be challenged, physical evidence must be properly connected to a defendant, and reported statements can be disputed through motions and cross-examination. The trial process is intended to test those pieces rather than assume their truth from the fact that prosecutors included them in a complaint.
The human results of that evidence trail are not disputed. DeHerrera and Bucholz died inside the Pierce Street apartment, and Hare died after being shot at the Townsend Avenue residence. DeHerrera’s family said she was the mother of two boys and was trying to leave Zollicoffer. Bucholz’s relatives described him as a friend who tried to help her. Hare’s relatives said she was a Navy veteran and mother. Their families have attended hearings as the criminal case has moved forward, including the preliminary proceeding at which Zollicoffer was ordered to stand trial.
Zollicoffer has pleaded not guilty. On Sept. 8, Borowski denied a defense request to substitute a different judge after ruling that the request was filed too late. A final pretrial hearing was scheduled for Oct. 8, with trial set for November. Until the state presents its evidence and the defense has the opportunity to contest it, the complaint, witness accounts and police testimony establish the accusations and procedural basis for the case, not a final determination of guilt.
Author note: Last updated September 28, 2026.