Milwaukee mother wants accountability after son dies from police chase injuries

Milwaukee mother wants accountability after son dies from police chase injuries

David Clarey, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Thu, December 11, 2025 at 5:41 PM UTC

4 min read

The day Anthony Higgins died in October was like many others in the months that had passed since he was a bystander injured during a police chase.

His mother, Gladil Higgins, fed him, as she did after the injuries left her son paralyzed from the neck down. The two shared a conversation so normal, his mother couldn't remember it weeks after. Hours later, Anthony's condition took a turn for the worse and he died.

The Milwaukee County Medical Examiner's Office ruled he died on Oct. 24 from complications due to the injuries he sustained during a June 9, 2024, police chase 16 months earlier. It's left his mother battling grief over losing her son − and angry over police chases that she believes are too dangerous.

"Too many innocent people are dying," Gladil said in an interview with the Journal Sentinel. "They just not hurting them. They hurting the whole family."

Anthony Higgins died on Oct. 24, roughly 16 months after he was injured as a bystander in a police chase. The Milwaukee County Medical Examiner's Office ruled his death was a result of the injuries sustained during the accident that left him paralyzed from the neck down.

Higgin's death is the latest death related to a police chase this year in Milwaukee. This year, there have been at least nine deaths related to police chases, according to Milwaukee police data. Since 2016, there have been between one and 10 deaths in police chase crashes each year.

This year's death total has been the highest since 2018. It has led to public officials, activists and others who have lost loved ones to pressure the department to find pursuit alternatives or ways to more safely go about it.

In a statement the Milwaukee Police Department has sent multiple times in response to concerns over its pursuits, the department said its policy, training and strategies are in line with national best practices. Police Chief Jeffrey Norman has described them as a "balancing act" for the department.

"Police pursuits present significant challenges due to the physical, emotional, and financial impact on officers, the public, and fleeing suspects," the statement said. "Recognizing these complexities, MPD is committed to ensuring its training, policies, and risk mitigation strategies reflect national best practices."

A high-speed police chase begins due to reports of gunfire

On June 8, 2024, Anthony was at his mother's home getting a haircut from a friend. He wanted it ahead of church the next day and he woke up his mother in bed before he left.

Anthony, who ran a small refrigeration repair business, told his mother he would see her the next day and that he planned to pay her car insurance for her. Around 2:30 a.m., the hospital called Gladil. She went to see her son.

"When I got there, he said, 'Mom, I can't move,'" Gladil said.

Anthony's death came more than a year after Milwaukee police chased Jaylen Lock, 17, near the 900 block of West Keefe Avenue, after gunshots were fired in the area and officers responded.

Lock drove away, fleeing police at speeds that reached up to 90 mph and later said he refused to stop because he was "scared and only had his permit," according to a criminal complaint. Prosecutors say Lock ran multiple stop signs and red lights, before he ran another at North 9th Street and West Keefe Avenue.

That's when he crashed into Anthony, paralyzing him from the neck down. Gladil and her daughter cared for Anthony every day since the accident. They fed him, bathed him, changed him.

It was as if he had become a child again – no longer the man who she said had a taste for finer things for himself and others. He often gifted her Michael Kors products for Christmas or large bouquets of flowers for her birthday.

"It's still difficult for me," Gladil said.

Lock now faces a charge of second-degree reckless homicide in Anthony's death. If convicted, he faces up to 25 years in prison and a fine of up to $100,000. Lock had previously pled guilty to fleeing police resulting in great bodily harm for paralyzing Anthony. He was sentenced to seven years in prison and five years of extended supervision.

Gladil wonders if the maximum time is appropriate for what happened to her son or, if convicted, how much of it he will ultimately serve. She shared that Lock has expressed his apologies for what happened and that he's grown older in the time since.

She jostles with these thoughts when discussing them. She hates the situation, not Lock, Gladil said.

"He's a kid and he did wrong. But when you do wrong, you have consequences," she said. "And why he did what he did, I don't know. Why they was chasing him, I don't know."

Gladil and Tiffany Stark, the mother of one Anthony's children, both are critical of police pursuits. Anthony's mother believes the police need to be held accountable as well, just like Lock.

"The kids are out there, they bad," she said. "But the police chasing them made it even worse."

Stark is a member of the Milwaukee Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, which regularly advocates for police reform in the city. Stark and the group have advocated for changing the department's pursuit policy. They plan for a new push for changes soon, she said.

"We can’t bring him back but there are ways that we can prevent this from happening to anyone else," Stark said.

David Clarey is a public safety reporter at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. He can be reached at dclarey@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee mother wants accountability after son dies from police chase injuries

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