Full Notification

NEWS RELEASE
 
For Immediate Release – Thursday, July 10, 2025

Janesville, WI – Last week, 42-year-old Deonte Foster plead guilty to Second-Degree Reckless Homicide and Felon in Possession of a Firearm in Rock County Circuit Court.  Today, Judge Karl Hanson sentenced Foster to twenty years in the prison system, with the first ten years to be served incarcerated in prison.
 
WHAT WE KNOW FOR CERTAIN: On December 17, 2024, Foster was staying at a smaller apartment building in Janesville.  He and a neighbor, identified as T.C., got into a verbal dispute.  Foster knocked on T.C.’s door to continue the argument.  Sometime shortly thereafter, Foster shot T.C. in the abdomen with a handgun.  T.C. was taken to the hospital, and later died of his injuries. 
 
The Janesville Police Department responded with multiple officers, who did a thorough job gathering all the evidence at the scene.  Investigator Matthew Schieve was assigned as lead investigator.  A witness on scene told Janesville Police that Foster had come to T.C.’s door and shot him.  A warrant was issued charging Foster with First-Degree Intentional Homicide and Felon in Possession of a Firearm.
 
FURTHER INVESTIGATION: Since Foster turned himself in to face these charges, additional witnesses have provided information to Janesville Police Department.  The witness statements conflicted, somewhat, as to what degree Foster was defending himself from T.C., whose DNA was found on a large butcher’s knife.
 
While the new witness statements raised doubts about whether Foster was actually guilty of intentional homicide, assigned prosecutors Noah Tylenda and Bryce Becker maintained that Foster was still guilty of a type of reckless homicide.   Foster agreed to plead guilty to the reckless homicide, the maximum sentence for which is 15 years initial prison, followed by 10 years extended supervision.
 
SENTENCING:  Today’s sentencing took place in a relatively crowded courtroom, with observers including investigators from the Janesville Police Department and Foster’s friends and family.  Prosecutors explained the evidence to Judge Hanson.  “Frankly, there are a lot of unknowns about the specifics,” Tylenda told the Court at sentencing today.  “But we know three things for certain: Mr. Foster should not have gone back to that apartment, he should not have had a firearm, and without him making those choices, T.C. would not be dead.”
 
Foster’s attorney, Melissa Frost, explained that Foster had recently been accosted by a stranger in the apartment complex, and that was why he carried a gun.  “He knew he did not have the privilege of carrying a firearm,” Frost told the Court, “and he accepts responsibility for that.  This is not an excuse; it is just to explain.”  Attorney Frost highlighted that T.C. was larger than Foster, and that T.C.’s DNA was found on the “largest knife in the butcher block.”  Speaking last before sentence, Foster told Judge Hanson that before he shot T.C. in the hallway, “T.C. came towards me with the knife pointed out, like Michael Myers.”
 
Passing sentence, Judge Hanson gave Foster credit for taking responsibility for killing T.C., but also noted that Foster knew it was illegal to possess a firearm, but did so anyway.  Ultimately, Judge Hanson sentenced Foster to twenty years in the Wisconsin Prison System, with the first ten years being initial incarceration, and the next ten years on extended supervision.  Foster must serve a minimum of eight years in a prison before he can participate in any treatment program that could release him to extended supervision.
 
The District Attorney’s Office thanks Investigator Schieve and the entire Janesville Police Department for their thorough investigation, as well as other law enforcement agencies that assisted, and the Victim-Witness professionals who helped T.C.’s family members through the difficult entirety of this case

Contact:         Jason Sanders, Rock County District Attorney
[email protected]