In a troubling turn of events, a Wisconsin man with a history of vehicular crime has found himself back in custody, accused of a fatal hit-and-run that claimed the life of an emergency medical technician in Milwaukee. This incident, which occurred during a street-racing episode, has once again brought attention to the dangers of reckless driving.
The tragic event took place on Thursday, January 15, when Milwaukee authorities responded to reports of a severe collision involving a pickup truck and an SUV. The crash site, according to FOX 6, bore the unmistakable signs of a high-speed impact.
When officers arrived, the driver of the pickup truck was nowhere to be found, having fled the scene. This left authorities to piece together the circumstances of the accident from witness accounts and evidence left behind.
One eyewitness recounted seeing three vehicles, including the pickup truck, lined up at the intersection of 76th and Appleton. As the traffic light turned green, these vehicles reportedly launched into a high-speed race down 76th Street, as detailed in a complaint obtained by FOX 6.
Tragically, the reckless actions of these drivers culminated in the fatal accident that took the life of 34-year-old Meng Kue, an EMT working with Bell Ambulance. The witness estimated that the vehicles reached speeds of up to 80 mph before the pickup truck collided with the SUV, which was attempting to cross the street at the time.
The witness reportedly estimated the vehicles “reached a speed of 80 mph,” and collided with the SUV as it attempted to cross 76th street, the complaint added.
According to police, the witness then stopped to help and approached the driver of the pickup truck, who was wearing a blue “puffy jacket” and appeared to be shaken but did not have visible injuries.
The witness reportedly said the driver “grabbed some items from inside the truck and then got into one of the [other] vehicles that had also been racing” and fled the scene.
22-year-old Dayton Milligan is charged with first-degree reckless homicide, hit-and-run resulting in death and knowingly operating a motor vehicle while revoked – cause death of another, FOX 6 reported. (FOX 6)
The driver of the SUV was later identified as 34-year-old Meng Kue, a Bell Ambulance EMT. Kue did not survive the crash, with the Milwaukee County Medical Examiner’s Office determining his cause of death was multiple blunt force injuries.
Police subsequently searched the pickup truck at the scene of the collision, and determined through the vehicle’s Airback Control Module (ACM) that the truck was traveling 106 mph about 2.5 seconds before impact and 101 mph 0.5 seconds before striking Kue’s SUV. The speed limit along the street is reportedly posted as 35 mph.
Investigators located identifying documents, debit cards and multiple receipts with the name “Dayton Milligan,” and later learned he was “currently on Department of Corrections monitoring,” according to the complaint.
37-year-old Earl Gordon is reportedly facing charges of hit-and-run resulting in death and harboring or aiding a felon. (FOX 6)
Authorities also found a blue Dodgers baseball cap and a visitors tag from the Children’s Wisconsin hospital dated the same day as the crash, with security footage from the hospital showing Milligan leaving in the pickup truck just 23 minutes before the alleged crash.
Milligan, 22, was subsequently located and arrested on Jan. 16 – one day after the alleged hit-and-run.
On Jan. 19, authorities arrested Earl Gordon, 37, after speaking with a woman who told police she had talked to him on the phone the night of the alleged collision.
According to the complaint, the woman said Gordon told her “something had happened to his cousin, Defendant Dayton Milligan,” and “showed up at her residence and asked to stay on her couch” the next day.
By the time Gordon arrived, “she had already seen the news and knew from the video of the crash and the vehicles involved that Defendant Milligan was involved in the fatal crash,” the complaint said.
The woman reportedly told authorities that when she confronted Gordon, he claimed he was driving when he lost sight of the pickup truck and another racing vehicle, and then “he saw a large cloud of smoke and saw the crash.”
“Defendant Gordon told [the woman] that he then drove to the crash scene, picked up Defendant Milligan and fled the scene,” the complaint added, according to FOX 6.
Later the same day, Milwaukee police reportedly executed a search warrant at a residence located on the city’s northwest side, where they “located a blue ‘puffy’ jacket consistent with Defendant Milligan’s from the Children’s Hospital video on the day of the crash,” the complaint said.
Authorities also located a box of bandages, a firearm stashed under a living room mattress, the title for the alleged striking vehicle and “a pair of dark jeans with possible blood on the knees.”
Milligan is charged with first-degree reckless homicide, hit-and-run resulting in death and knowingly operating a motor vehicle while revoked – cause death of another, FOX 6 reported.
Gordon is reportedly facing charges of hit-and-run resulting in death and harboring or aiding a felon.
According to court records obtained by FOX 6, Milligan was convicted in June 2021 in nearby Ashland County for second-degree reckless homicide and hit-and-run causing death.
He is currently serving extended supervision after accepting a plea deal, in which he faced a first-degree reckless homicide charge with a 60-year maximum sentence stemming from the death of Mahzhaquad Ford, according to WTMJ. He was ultimately sentenced to four years in prison and six years of extended supervision.
According to the outlet, prosecutors said Ford jumped into Milligan’s vehicle during a drug deal, causing Milligan to speed off and crash into a tree, where he left Ford to die.
“It could have been prevented. I don’t know what you do with a person like that — but he shouldn’t be free to roam,” Sandy Deragon, Ford’s grandmother, told the outlet.
Additionally, Gordon was convicted in 2023 of hit-and-run causing great bodily harm, according to FOX 6.
Both the Ashland and Milwaukee County Prosecutor’s Office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
