MILWAUKEE, Wis. — A second suspect has been found guilty in the murder of Purcell Pearson, a UW-Whitewater graduate who was killed while trying to sell designer glasses in 2021.
A jury handed Ismael Moreno a guilty verdict on Wednesday for one count of 1st-degree reckless homicide, as a party to a crime. Moreno was on the run for over a year before he was arrested in California in May 2022.
Moreno was convicted of Pearson's murder alongside Tyrell Joseph, who was previously sentenced to nine years in prison and six years of extended supervision in connection to the crime.
Now, Moreno will remain in custody until his sentencing hearing, which has been scheduled for June 23 at 10 a.m. He faces a maximum of 60 years in prison.
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The deadly shooting happened during a Facebook marketplace meet-up to see designer glasses on Feb. 6, 2021.
A criminal complaint states Pearson's brother told police at the time that Pearson was selling glasses, and the suspects robbed him and shot him. The Medical Examiner's Office concluded Pearson died from two gunshot wounds, in his chest and in his back.
Pearson had been selling designer glasses for three to four months. About a week before the homicide, Pearson and his brother posted Cartier glasses for $400. A person by the name of Pablo Fernandez messaged them, saying he was interested in buying them.
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Pearson appears to have met the interested buyer in person, who told Pearson that the glasses were not tight enough and wanted to buy two pairs for $500. Pearson went back to their apartment, fixed the glasses, and returned to the street where he was then shot and killed.
Investigators tracked the name Pablo Fernandez to a 262 area code phone number belonging to an adult woman. In 2019, the woman had been interviewed by police, when she told them her son was Tyrell Joseph.
Surveillance video narrowed down the suspected van involved in the homicide as a blue Toyota Sienna minivan. It had been left across an alley where Joseph's family lives.
Joseph's grandfather, who lives there, confirmed to investigators Joseph's identity in surveillance footage. The grandfather also confirmed to police the identity of Ismael E. Moreno in surveillance footage.
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