Cousins Murder Pizza Man, Eat Delivery After Shooting: Police

MILWAUKEE, WI — Two cousins have been arrested and charged after police say they shot and killed a pizza delivery man — only to leave his dead body in order to eat the pizza he delivered.

According to a criminal complaint filed in Milwaukee County, Mekael Kennedy, 17, and D'Andre Kennedy, 25, robbed and shot Clarence Taper, with Kennedy pulling the trigger after a physical struggle.

On the night of Sep. 15, Taper, a part-time delivery driver for Buddy's Pizza, was set to deliver pizza, hot wings, fries and bread sticks to an apartment on the 9200 block of N. 76th St. The woman who placed the order asked whether delivery drivers carry guns. The person who took the order at Buddy's said "no," according to the complaint.

Taper drove the order to the apartment, but Kennedy was waiting for him around the corner of the building, police said.

According to the criminal complaint, Taper was directed to enter the building and take the elevator up to the sixth floor. By the time he entered the building, however, he was followed into the lobby by Kennedy.

Wearing a white Jason hockey mask and sporting his cousin's .22 caliber handgun, Kennedy ordered him to put the pizza boxes and bags on the ground and order him to hand over all his money, police reported.

According to the complaint, when Kennedy demanded Taper's money, he said he had none, and lunged at Kennedy. He lunged at his assailant a second time, and Kennedy pulled the trigger, firing one bullet into his chest.

After the shooting, Kennedy picked the pizza boxes and bags off the floor, and re-entered his cousin's apartment where he and two others ate the food. When his cousin D'Andre asked him about the gunshot in the lobby, he told him that he shot the delivery driver because he jumped at him, according to the criminal complaint.

In an interview with WTMJ 4, apartment resident Sheryl Cash said Taper went out of his way to help the older residents who live there.

"The man, Mr. Clarence, ever since I have been ordering from them he always delivered my food. He would stand there and talk with you. He was just real nice and kind. And he didn't have to come to your door, but he would come to your door," Cash said in the report.

Mekael Kennedy has been charged with armed robbery and felony murder, and is being held in the Milwaukee County Jail on a $1 million cash bond. His cousin D'Andre has been charged with resisting an officer and harboring a felon. He was initially in jail on a $5,000 signature bond.

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image via milwaukee county jail