A teenager who was working the drive-thru at a Milwaukee Burger King when she was shot and killed in an apparent robbery may have staged the incident with her best friend and her best friend's father, court documents allege.
Niesha Harris-Brazell, 16, was working a shift with her best friend, Mariah Edwards, on January 2, when she was found fatally shot inside the fast-food joint.
Just a few minutes prior, surveillance footage caught a man in a red hoodie and a facemask waving a pistol around and demanding money as Harris-Brazell frantically took money out of the cash register and cried for help.
Investigators initially believed the man in the red hoodie who had demanded the cash shot and killed the 16-year-old, but court documents obtained by FOX 6 News revealed that a closer look at the video showed the man never fired the gun.
Instead, another camera inside the restaurant revealed that the shot was fired from within the Burger King, and Milwaukee police are now searching for Harris-Brazell's co-worker, Derrick Ellis, 34, who apparently tried to shoot at the robber and inadvertently hit Harris-Brazell.
During the ensuing investigation, police discovered Mariah's father, Antoine, was the man in the red hoodie. He is alleged to have concocted the robbery with Harris-Brazell and his daughter.
Antoine, 41, is now facing charges of felony murder, intentionally contributing to the delinquency of a child with death a a consequence and possession of a firearm by a felon, while Ellis is facing murder charges.
It is unclear what charges Mariah may face.
Niesha Harris-Brazell, 16, was fatally shot during an apparently staged robbery at the Burger King she was working at on January 2
Her best friend, Mariah Edwards, seen here talking to the press following the shooting, reportedly told authorities she had staged the robbery with Harris-Brazell and her father, Antoine Edwards
Antoine Edwards, 41, right, was identified as the robber seen in surveillance footage climbing through the drive-thru window that night when Derrick Ellis, left, fired two shots and inadvertently shot and killed Harris-Brazell
According to a criminal complaint obtained by FOX 6 News, surveillance footage from inside the Burger King showed a Chevy Impala pull up to the drive-thru window shortly after 10pm on January 2.
The driver, now believed to be Antoine Edwards, then knocked on the window several times until a 'juvenile male employee' responded. The two reportedly spoke for a moment, before Edwards pulls away.
After the car left the window, Mariah said she and Harris-Brazell called his phone to confirm that was him, and about three minutes later, the same Impala and driver reappeared at the window.
Harris-Brazell then promptly opened the window, and quickly backed away from it so she was not in view of the driver as she starts taking out cash and calls out to other employees, 'He's got a gun.'
A short time later, FOX 6 reports, the driver steps out of the car and crawls through the drive-thru window holding a semiautomatic pistol, waving it at Harris-Brazell. Antoine said he decided to do so because he thought Harris-Brazell was taking too long to get him his money.
Surveillance footage then shows that the driver quickly ducked and pulled himself out of the window, while Harris-Brazell fell to the ground.
In the ensuing investigation, police found other surveillance footage from inside the fast-food joint showing Ellis responding to Harris-Brazell's call for help, pulling out a gun and firing two shots at the thief.
He was then seen scrambling to pick up the shell casings from he floor, and was filmed running to the store manager who helped
