Shanel Negron was 'frightened' before murder in Waukesha

Steve Garrison
Flowers sat outside the home of Shanel A. Negron on Tuesday afternoon. A 24-year-old Waukesha resident and mother, Negron was gunned down at the corner of North Moreland Boulevard and Summit Avenue Monday evening. Police are still searching for the suspect in the shooting, Eddie Callaway.
Published on: 4/25/2013

"I was freaking out because I didn't know what to do," said Ashley Gawronski the neighbor of Shanel "Nani" Negron who was fatally shot in the head Monday evening.

Police said that Negron lived with Eddie Callaway, the man charged Tuesday evening with allegedly shooting her at the corner of North Moreland Boulevard and Summit Avenue.

Gawronski said she heard two shots fired and police sirens. She ran out into the street and saw Negron laying in the street.

Sarah Lomeli works as a cross guard at the corner of Moreland Boulevard and Summit Avenue. She said that earlier in the afternoon, Negron had approached her asking her to call the police if she saw a black male at her door.

Lomeli said that Negron sounded both frightened and concerned.

"No stone will be left unturned in our search for him," Waukesha Police Chief Russell Jack said at a news conference Tuesday regarding the search for Callaway.

Negron was pronounced dead at the scene, having been shot once in the head, Jack said. She is a mother with a 3-year-old child, but Callaway is not the father.

According to a news release, Waukesha Police squads responded at 7:15 p.m. on Monday, April 22 to the intersection of North Moreland Boulevard and Summit Avenue after receiving reports of shots fired. Callaway was last seen leaving the scene in a 2002 Ford Taurus, license plate number 394TVK. He was still at-large by press time.

History of violence

According to court records, Callaway had several previous run-ins with the law and has anger issues.

In 2006, Callaway was convicted of driving to Indiana to visit relatives along with a 14-year-old girl, leaving in a stolen car that belonged to the girl's mother. The girl said she wanted to leave Indiana after a fight broke out among Callaway's family members.

He claimed that the girl was suicidal and, "he just wanted to help his friend out of a bad situation." He was sentenced to three years probation in April 2007, but that probation was revoked in 2009 after he disappeared again to Indiana to visit his mother. He was arrested and extradited back to Wisconsin and served six months in the minimum-security Huber Jail.

In 2007, Callaway was convicted of disorderly conduct after dragging his then 18-year-old sister to his girlfriend's house by her shirt after she passed out drinking at a party. He placed her in a bathtub full of cold water and shaved her eyebrows and chopped off her hair while she was unconscious to "teach her a lesson." A friend of the sister said he also beat her with a belt, a claim he denied. However, police did observe "deep bruising" on her arms, legs, back and left cheek.

In 2011, Callaway was again convicted of disorderly conduct for punching and kicking a man in Waukesha he claimed was "talking trash" about him. That probationary status was revoked after he was arrested in Indiana for felony disorderly conduct. According to the revocation summary, Callaway was arrested in Indiana for a felony domestic violence incident. He allegedly held a woman down on his couch and pretended to stab her with a knife. The woman said she faked an asthma attack and he got off her, but he refused to allow her to leave. Furthermore, the report states that Callaway did not receive any treatment while he was on parole in Indiana.

On Sept. 9, 2012, he was sentenced to one year in prison, with credit for 235 days already served.

Jack said Negron and Callaway were believed to be living together and police are investigating the death as a domestic violence incident.

Jack said that domestic abuse was a "huge problem" in society, and urged women who may be in such a relationship to call police earlier, not later, so that officers could intervene.

Jack reiterated at the news conference that Callaway is believed to be armed and extremely dangerous and anyone who encounters him is encouraged to call 911. Anyone who has information about his location is urged to contact Waukesha Police Dispatch at (262) 524-3831.

Jack said that the department has contacted the U.S. Marshall Service and Callaway is now listed as a Most Wanted suspect.