La'Dasia Porter, 19, tried to protect her mother, but both were killed. Now, the killer's been sentenced.

Chris Ramirez
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

A Milwaukee man who fatally shot his former girlfriend and the teenage daughter who tried to protect her will spend the next 35 years in prison.

Juan Whiteside on Monday pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree reckless homicide before Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Jean Marie Kies.

She sentenced him to 20 years in prison and five years of extended supervision in connection with the death of O'keyin Riles. Kies also ordered him to a 15-year prison term in the death of Riles' daughter, La'Dasia Porter, along with five years of extended supervision.

Kies ordered the terms for Whiteside, who turns 40 Wednesday, to run consecutively.

A third charge, possession of a firearm by a felon, was dismissed.

La'Dasia Porter and O'keyin Riles

Who were the victims?

Riles, 42, and her daughter, Porter, 19, were shot and killed July 14, 2022, inside a home near West Ring and North 6th streets. Family members believe Porter was trying to protect her mother at the time of the shooting.

Here's what happened

Whiteside had been dating Riles and shot her and her daughter after an argument, according to a criminal complaint. Porter told an officer as she was taken to the hospital that "Juan Whiteside" shot her and her mother, and identified him as her mother's ex-boyfriend.

Whiteside was later arrested in Arizona.

More:1,074 cases. No victim deaths. What a domestic violence team in Milwaukee learned last year

Why was Juan Whiteside in the Southwest?

The day after the homicide, detectives interviewed a woman in Las Vegas who said she had raised Whiteside. The woman told police had been getting calls from a Milwaukee number the night before. When she finally answered, it was Whiteside. She said Whiteside told her she “would not be proud of him because he killed his girlfriend and her daughter," the complaint says.

Whiteside said he wanted to come to her house in Las Vegas, but the woman told him to turn himself in and not to come to her house. Whiteside told her he needed to go into hiding for 15 to 20 years, she told police.

More:Domestic violence deaths are rising. Children are witnessing them. Inside the crisis facing Milwaukee County.

Juan Whiteside had a criminal history

Whiteside was previously convicted in a 2008 attempted armed robbery and recklessly endangering safety case. Both were felonies. A person interviewed as part of the homicide investigation told police Whiteside carried a Glock and sold other firearms, the complaint says.