Fond du Lac mothers keep eyes on kids after shooting as one suspect appears in court, the other at-large

FOND DU LAC, Wis. (WBAY) - A Fond du Lac neighborhood remains on edge after a deadly shooting earlier this month at Maplewood Commons. One suspect appeared in court Thursday, but the other is still not in custody.

On Thursday, 14-year-old Parise Larry, Jr. appeared in court for another hearing; he faces homicide charges.

Larry Jr. still doesn’t have an attorney, so he’s due back in court June 9. Meanwhile, the other suspect, Antonio Johnston, is still on the run. The criminal complaint says Larry Jr. and Johnston had a conflict with one of the shooting victims.

Twenty-year-old Tatyanna Zech was killed in the shooting, two other people were shot, and a fourth was grazed by a bullet that went into his apartment. People who live at Maplewood Commons are glad Larry Jr. is behind bars, but they say with the other suspect at large they can’t rest easy.

“I got to stand here and just let them play. I have to watch everything and everybody around before they can do anything. I got to stand watch the scenery before they can do something,” said Mocha Mac, who lives at Maplewood Commons.

Mothers who live at the apartment complex say they can almost still hear the gunfire ringing in their ears even two-and-a-half weeks after the deadly shooting in this neighborhood.

“We’re scared. We’re terrified,” said Mac. “I’m terrified somebody was just standing outside my window the other night, all black, literally watching my patio window.”

You can still feel the tension in the neighborhood. Mothers told us the empty playground would normally be full of children on a warm, sunny day like this. Right now, parents say they don’t want to let their children out of their sight.

“Scared, and I have 5 kids here. I am terrified. I got to stand outside day and night. I can’t even go to work because I’m scared to leave my kids out here. This is a neighborhood for kids, not no crime scene,” Sharice Criss said.

Police say they’re actively looking for Johnston and hope to put neighborhood fears to rest.

“We’re doing everything we can. We’ve invested a lot of resources to try and come to a conclusion,” Police Capt. David LeCaptain said.

They say in a case like this, information from witnesses and the general public is crucial.

“It’s very important. We can’t do our job without the public’s help in getting us the information they know. And if anybody knows anything, even if they think it’s something that may be irrelevant, give us a call and let us know. It may be the one little thing that helps us out,” said LeCaptain.

For now, families at Maplewood Commons tell us they’re keeping their babies close.

“This is a Maplewood community, a neighborhood for kids, not for killers.”

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