MILWAUKEE – A Milwaukee man has been found guilty of first-degree intentional homicide in the shooting death of one-year-old Zy’aire Nevels in June 2023. The jury Thursday also finding Davon Chapman guilty of possession of a firearm while a convicted felon.
According to a criminal complaint, Chapman followed Nevels’ parents in his car – chasing them through red lights – before opening fire from his vehicle. Neither Zhane Brown or Montrell Nevels, Zy’aire’s parents, were hit by the gunfire, but the one-year-old girl was struck in the backseat.
“At the end of the day, [Chapman] being behind bars is not going to bring our child back,” Brown told TMJ4 News after his arrest.
After her parents realized she had been hit, the elder Nevels drove to a fire station where someone carried his daughter inside. Despite being rushed to the hospital, she died that night.
Police said at the time the shooting was the result of a fight between two adults escalating. In the complaint, Brown identified Chapman as her best friend’s husband, and said that she could see him inside the car as they were being chased.
Sentencing will be held on March 8. The conviction for first-degree intentional homicide carries a mandatory life sentence, either with or without the possibility of parole.
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