Milwaukee man convicted in February shooting that killed 15-year-old Gabrielle Landry

Jurors on Thursday convicted a 24-year-old Milwaukee man in the February shooting death of 15-year-old Gabrielle Landry.

Despite Marcellus Duckworth’s claim the gunshot that killed Gabrielle was fired in self-defense during an argument with two other women, a 12-person jury took less than three hours to convict him of first-degree reckless homicide.

Duckworth faces a maximum of 60 years in prison. A sentencing hearing is scheduled for Dec. 2.

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During that argument, Gabrielle was in the backseat of a vehicle with the two other women, which at one point was driving towards Duckworth and his girlfriend. Duckworth, who took to the witness stand during the three-day trial, said he went into “protective mode” when he fired a shot he said was aimed toward the car’s tire.

But prosecutors attacked the self-defense claim by showing evidence Duckworth needlessly fired a shot into the rear passenger door as the car had already passed him by from a distance of several feet.

“It is not a reasonable belief he was acting in self-defense,” Assistant District Attorney Chad Wozniak said.

Gabrielle, who was in her freshman year at North Division High School, is one of 20 minors to be killed in homicides in Milwaukee this year. As homicides and gun violence rose at a historic rate locally and nationally at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, minors have increasingly been victimized.

From 2016 to 2019, no more than 10 minors died by homicide in Milwaukee, but 20 or more have been killed in each of the three years since then, according to the Milwaukee Homicide Review Commission. The annual number of minors injured in shootings in 2021 was also double that of any year between 2016 and 2019.

The incident occurred Feb. 13 on the 5700 block of North 65th Street, in the Silver Spring neighborhood on Milwaukee’s north side. According to the court records and testimony:

Gabrielle accompanied another 17-year-old girl and an adult woman who previously had a relationship with Duckworth to confront him as a result of an Instagram post Duckworth’s girlfriend posted early that afternoon.

After driving up to Duckworth’s home, the adult woman and the 17-year-old threw canned goods and other objects at a parked car they believed belonged to the girlfriend, attempted to pepper-spray her and smashed a window on Duckworth’s front door.

Gabrielle stayed seated in the car for most of the incident, recording it on her phone, while at some point Duckworth armed himself with two guns. He threatened to “pop” any of the women who touched his BMW, but said during the trial that was a “scare tactic” and he never intended to actually shoot anyone.

After the window was smashed, the three returned to their car and drove off but turned around and headed back in the direction of Duckworth and his girlfriend.

Duckworth testified the car was driving 35 to 40 mph, causing him to fear for his life. But that was contradicted by other witness testimony claiming the car was moving slower, Wozniak said in his closing argument.

Additionally, Wozniak provided evidence showing the bullet struck the rear, driver’s side passenger door and hit Gabrielle. Wozniak argued the trajectory of the bullet suggested the gunshot was fired as the car was parallel to the shooter, as it passed by, and therefore was not a threat to him.

He also questioned why Duckworth never told police following the incident that he feared for his life when he decided to shoot. He answered that he was trying to prevent anyone else from coming under scrutiny from law enforcement, given the sequence of events began with property damage.

Immediately after the shooting, Duckworth said, he went back into his home and called his mother about the incident. He said he had no idea he shot anyone until police later arrived.

“It was a shock to me,” he said. “I didn’t want to believe it. I still don’t want to believe it.”

Sarah Volpenhein of the Journal Sentinel staff contributed to this report.

Contact Elliot Hughes at elliot.hughes@jrn.com or 414-704-8958. Follow him on Twitter @elliothughes12.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee man convicted in February shooting that killed 15-year-old Gabrielle Landry