3 charged in connection to deadly shooting outside Fryerz restaurant

MCSO/Family of Darien Ballard

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- Three people are facing criminal charges in connection to the homicide of 34-year-old Darien Ballard

Among those charged are Ezzard Diggins, Aniya Duvall-Wilks, and Ryan Moore Jr. 

Records show Diggins and Moore Jr. each face one first-degree reckless homicide charge as a party to a crime. Duvall-Wilks is charged with harboring or aiding a felon. 

Officers responded to the Fryerz restaurant at 27th and Fond du Lac Avenue around 1:47 a.m. the morning of Oct. 14 for the reported shooting. 

According to a criminal complaint, a caller reported hearing shots, looking outside and seeing the victim, later identified as Ballard, fall on the side of the street in front of the parking lot. Officers found Ballard lying near a Ford Escape; he was pronounced dead at the scene. 

Police located two cellphones inside the vehicle, one which had a driver's license in its case belonging to Ryan Moore

Prosecutors say surveillance video from Fryerz shows the Escape pull into the restaurant's parking lot around 1:12 a.m. An SUV also enters the parking lot and parks. A man and woman get out of the SUV, stand next to the driver's side front door and appear to talk to someone in the driver's seat. They go inside the restaurant and appear to place an order. After receiving their food, the two leave and go back to the SUV. 

Video from a store sharing a parking lot with Fryerz reportedly shows the man exiting Fryerz and walking back to the SUV, when a different man gets out of the vehicle's front driver's side door. Both men then walk over and get into the Escape, and there appears to be a "struggle" with the driver. The driver's side door opens, and a person appears to stumble out and collapse. The SUV then drives past the body, turns north and reenters the parking lot. Two people get out of the Escape and leave, with one getting inside of the waiting SUV and the other walking away.

Detectives used images from Flock cameras to connect the SUV with a vehicle located in Omaha, Nebraska, driven by Ezzard Diggins.

When questioned, the complaint says Duvall-Wilks told detectives she had gone along to Fryerz to "meet the weed man." She reportedly stated she heard two gunshots while the men were in the other car, and she began to drive.  Moore got into the SUV, and they picked up Diggins near 22nd and Center. She said she then heard Moore ask Diggins why Diggins shot the victim.

Court records show arrest warrants have been issued for both Moore and Diggens. 

Duvall-Wilks is due in court on Oct. 21. 

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