Photo: Outagamie County Jail
APPLETON, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — Dezman Ellis will no longer pursue withdrawing his plea for the fatal shooting of Jovanni Frausto at the Fox River Mall in January 2021, according to his attorney.
Ellis was 17 at the time of the Jan. 31, 2021 shooting, and 18 at the sentencing hearing. He’s now 21, serving his 40-year sentence at the Waupun Correctional Institution after being convicted of second-degree intentional homicide and first-degree recklessly endangering safety.
Ellis had asked to withdraw his plea, saying Ellis believed that since prosecutors were asking for 15 years in prison, he didn’t believe he could get more than that.
A July 24 hearing was scheduled to address the motion, but attorney Len Kachinsky withdrew it in a letter to the court, filed late last week.
Ellis “hereby rescinds his motion for an order permitting him to withdraw the no contest pleas he entered to second degree intentional homicide and first degree recklessly endangering safety on November 10, 2021. Ellis confirmed this decision in a phone conference with the undersigned attorney on May 29, 2025 at approximately 10:00 a.m.,” Kachinsky wrote.
No reason was stated for the change.
Prosecutors said Ellis and Frausto were arguing about a girl, though Ellis denied that at sentencing.
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