The man who killed an aspiring barber while fleeing Milwaukee police gets prison time

Amari Smith could appreciate the value of a fresh new haircut.

A good one can build confidence, or even change someone’s perception of you.

Cutting and styling hair, whether it was at home or at the north side homeless shelter where he often volunteered, was Smith’s way of pitching in. He made it his mission to fix the community one fade at a time.

“To be so young, he had an old soul,” his mother Shanita Hill recalled. “It was what he loved to do.”

Smith’s goal was to finish his studies at Milwaukee Area Technical College, then make a living as a barber .

Robert Lavelle Jones changed those plans.

Jones admitted last month he was the one behind the wheel of a car that led police on a high-speed chase through Milwaukee on Feb. 25 and crashed into Smith’s vehicle at 20 ^th and Burleigh streets .

Smith, 30, was killed.

Jones pleaded guilty in June to fleeing police and being a felon in possession of a firearm. At sentencing Tuesday, Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Jeffrey A. Wagner ordered Jones to serve a total of 14 years in prison.

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In court, Jones, 41, told his own family he was sorry for letting them down. He also apologized to Smith’s family for causing them pain.

Wagner also ordered Jones to serve eight years of extended supervision when he is released.

Reckless driving and speeding have quickly evolved into one of the most serious safety issues for residents in Milwaukee County.

A recent report from the Wisconsin Policy Forum reinforced the assertion Milwaukee has the most dangerous roadways in the state and has in recent years experienced a surge in traffic deaths that is largely impacting Black and brown lives.

At least 55 people have died in crashes on Milwaukee County roads during 2024 through Aug. 18, the most updated figure provided Tuesday from the state Department of Transportation. There were 91 traffic deaths in the county during all of 2023, and 110 the year before.

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There have been 326 road fatalities reported statewide up to the same period in 2024, traffic data shows. In all of 2023, there were 564 deaths on Wisconsin roads.

Hill wept after accepting the thought that her son is now among those very grim statistics.

It was kind of a surprise to some in the family when Smith announced last year he wanted to go school to become a barber. But they supported him.

Smith was able practice a lot on friends, neighbors, and just about anyone willing to sit under the buzz of his clippers. He also showed up several days a week to cut hair at Repairers of the Breach, a homeless shelter on Vliet Street.

Hill described her son as a giving man who stepped up to care for her after she endured a recent back surgery.

She recalled how on Feb. 25 he told her he needed to "get some air" after a couple days of studying.

He ran to a store to buy her a bag of potato chips. He also promised to take out the trash when he got back. Smith later returned with the chips, then headed out with the trash bag under his arm.

That would be the last time Hill would see him alive.

"This wasn't supposed to happen," Hill said, directing her comments to Jones, seated at the defendant's table just a few feet away. "He wasn't a part of anything you had going on in your life. He wasn't supposed to pay the consequences of your actions. You were."

Officials at MATC posthumously awarded Smith his degree in cosmetology in May.

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Shirley Callender said the hurt hasn’t stopped since she got the phone call notifying her that her grandson had been killed in the crash. She described him as a man with a “humble spirit” and “a great heart,” who she believes was on his way to becoming “a pillar in the community.”

Callender visits Smith’s gravesite three times a week.

“You took his life,” said Callender, directing her comments to Jones. “But we’re the ones left to suffer every day.”

Jones has 20 days to appeal the sentence.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: The man who killed an aspiring barber while fleeing Milwaukee police gets prison time