Milwaukee gang member arrested for 1990 cold case

MILWAUKEE — 33 years after Annette Love was found dead from a fatal gunshot wound, investigators with the Milwaukee Police Department have identified, arrested and charged a man with first-degree reckless homicide with a dangerous weapon in what was previously deemed a cold case.

According to the Milwaukee Police Department, Larnell Washington (52) was located and apprehended in Washington state on Feb. 11, 2023 and is facing up to 25 years in prison.

Officers from the Milwaukee Police Department responded to the 3400-block of N 4th St in Milwaukee at 7:15 a.m. on July 16, 1990 when sanitation workers found the victim’s body in the street. She was nude from the waist down with her legs spread apart, the criminal complaint confirmed. Autopsies and subsequent investigations reaffirmed that she was the victim of homicide.

Leads fell through and the investigation became a cold case until the victim’s daughter was interviewed again in 2010. She suggested that Washington was a gang member who made crude remarks to her, put his hands on her and bit her roughly two weeks before her mother was killed.

The daughter informed her mother and an Uncle, who allegedly equipped themselves with firearms and approached Washington in a group with his fellow gang members. Her Uncle allegedly punched Washington, to which a gang member allegedly stated: “You can’t come here beating on the CVL’s and expect nothing to happen.”

Almost two weeks later, the daughter saw members of this gang nearby to her home. She told investigators that her mother wouldn’t leave to meet her friend at a nearby tavern until they were out of sight. When the gang members left the area, the mother left home. This was the last time the daughter saw her mother alive.

A cousin was probed by Milwaukee police investigators and confirmed the daughter’s statements, adding that a woman who was dating Washington around the time of the homicide admitted that he was responsible for killing Love. This woman was interviewed in 2010, admitting that Washington and several other gang-members were at their home that night, left and later returned with bloodied shirts, continuously chanting that “she got shot.”

Between 2010 and 2011, several DNA samples returned from the crime scene were traced back to Washington, who denied his involvement via an attorney.

Several others were interviewed in 2011, admitting a connection to Washington’s alleged co-conspirator, Ronald Brelove. He was accused of admitting that he killed her using his signature .22 semi-automatic pistol, which is the same caliber of weapon used to kill Love. He was also accused of raping the victim.

DNA technology evolved over the years, giving the Milwaukee Police Department more evidence that linked Washington to the homicide, culminating with the recent arrest 33 years after the initial homicide.

Brelove has 36 confirmed felony offenses against him including several violent rapes and robberies which left him serving a life sentence. The duo was convicted of another homicide together, which was allegedly another act of retaliation against someone who wronged one of the members of this gang.

The investigator who submitted this criminal complaint is an 18-year veteran of the Milwaukee Police Department who is currently a Detective with a specialization in cold cases. For those who are unaware, a “cold case” is an unsolved criminal investigation which remains open in case new details arise.

This Milwaukee detective submitted the complaint based on comments made by Washington and an accused co-conspirator, Ronald Brelove.

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