A Wisconsin man has been convicted of shooting and killing his brother, driven by the belief that the victim was involved in a romantic relationship with the man’s wife, leading to a tragic confrontation. The jury found Brandon Smith, 51, guilty of first-degree reckless homicide in the death of his 41-year-old brother, Justin Smith, according to a report from Milwaukee’s Fox affiliate, WITI.

Initially charged with first-degree intentional homicide, Brandon Smith’s conviction comes from an incident that occurred in the early hours of February 26, 2025. Both brothers were at their mother’s Milwaukee home on North 47th Street. Brandon had been residing there since the previous September following his divorce, as detailed in a criminal complaint obtained by Law&Crime.

Their mother described her older son as increasingly paranoid and suffering from apparent mental health issues. She noted his reluctance to leave the house and his unemployment, adding that he harbored unfounded suspicions about his brother’s relationship with his ex-wife. She firmly stated there was no truth to these beliefs.

According to the affidavit, Brandon Smith was convinced that his brother was spying on him through his phone and plotting to kill him. He also suspected that Justin had invited someone over to ambush him, although he admitted never seeing any such person.

At around 4 a.m. on February 26, tensions escalated when Brandon accused Justin of harboring a man in the house with intentions to harm him. Despite the accusation, Justin chose not to engage in the argument and stayed in his room. Their mother confirmed that only the three of them were present in the house at the time.

At about 4 a.m. on Feb. 26, 2025, the defendant accused his brother of having a man over in order to harm him. Justin Smith “remained in his own room and would not engage in the argument,” said the mother, who added that no one other than the three of them was in the house.

Still, Brandon Smith was “agitated” and called the police. Officers arrived and then left, but the argument between the brothers did not end.

The mother “had to break them up to go to their respective bedrooms,” a detective wrote in the complaint. But Brandon Smith said he “still did not feel safe” so he started “patrolling” the home by walking up and down the stairs.

At the time, the mother was in the living room. She said she heard her elder son “saying he believed people were out to kill him,” but he returned up the stairs, and she fell asleep.

The defendant claimed he could hear Justin Smith and another man on the phone and believed his brother “was determined” to hurt him, so he “grabbed the first thing he saw in the kitchen, a hammer, and confronted the victim in the kitchen.”

The mother awoke to “the victim screaming.” When she rose, she saw the two brothers fighting on the ground, with Brandon Smith on top and his younger brother “bleeding from the head.”

Brandon Smith had hit his younger brother twice in the head with the hammer, the complaint said. The mother rushed to break them up and grabbed the hammer as Justin Smith went into his bedroom, per the court document.

The defendant then “retrieved his handgun” and shot his younger brother in the chest, according to the complaint. The defendant told investigators that he saw Justin Smith fall to the ground. According to the complaint, the boys’ mother came into the bedroom and started screaming and trying to help her younger son, but Brandon Smith reportedly “would not let her go.”

As the complaint states, Brandon Smith “felt like he still needed to protect himself.” He went to wash up but “refused” to let his mother call 911.

The mother eventually got the chance to call authorities. Brandon Smith reportedly ranted about the Bible, Cain and Abel, and how his brother and their neighbors wanted to kill him. He later told police that he and his brother “had never pulled guns on each other before.”

Police arrived at the home around 6:43 a.m. and spoke with the mother. As she walked an officer by a room where Brandon Smith was, she said, “this [is] the one that hurt the other one.” In another bedroom, the officer saw Justin Smith on the ground “surrounded by blood.”

Justin Smith was pronounced dead at the scene. He had “multiple blunt force injuries to his head and face, and his clothing was covered in blood.” An autopsy found that his cause of death was a gunshot wound to the chest.

The gun used in the shooting was recovered by police. Brandon Smith was arrested.

He is set to be sentenced on June 5.