Unlicensed driver charged in fatal crash at Capitol and Green Bay

Bruce Vielmetti
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

A 27-year-old Milwaukee man who never had a valid driver's license, but a dozen prior driving convictions, has been charged in the latest instance of the city's reckless driving problem.

Jamera Doyle, 17, was a passenger in a Chevy Monte Carlo that police say was going more than 90 mph through the busy intersection of Green Bay Road and Capitol Drive on Saturday night, and died at the scene after being thrown from the car when it crashed into a bus shelter.

The driver, Kenneth D. Wright, was charged Thursday with second-degree reckless homicide and driving after revocation, resulting in death, both as a habitual offender, because of his 12 prior convictions for driving without a license in the past five years. He's also been cited for speeding four times since 2019, three times for 20 mph or more over the limit.

He was also charged with felony violation of a no contact order that prohibited him from being with Doyle, again as a habitual offender.

According to the criminal complaint:

Shortly before 10 p.m., people began calling 911 about a car crashing through a light pole, flipping and burning. As firefighters tried to save Doyle, Wright told police he had been eastbound on Capitol at no more than 30 mph when another car cut him off, forcing him to swerve.

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But officers said the evidence at the scene -- the tracks, the damage to the Chevy and the light pole, suggested the car had been traveling much faster. Another driver who was stopped at the light on Green Bay Road estimated the Monte Carlo had been going 100 mph and said there was no other car involved.

The car's computer module later showed it was going 83 mph, with the brake applied, right before the crash, suggesting it was going much faster before braking began.

Wright made his initial court appearance Thursday, and is being held in the Milwaukee County Jail on $25,000 bail. 

Contact Bruce Vielmetti at (414) 224-2187 or bvielmetti@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter at @ProofHearsay.