Guilty plea in Shannon Mani murder case

The Milwaukee man accused of killing Blaine High School (BHS) alumna Shannon Mani and her unborn child in April 2018 has pleaded guilty to two first-degree homicide counts.

Quentin Neal, 28, was scheduled to stand trial in Milwaukee County Circuit Court on July 15, according to a report in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Instead of proceeding to trial, Neal decided to plead guilty to the two felony counts. A third count, for possession of a firearm by a felon, was dismissed but read into the record for sentencing.

During the sentencing hearing on July 17, Neal was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. The judge reportedly said it was one of the most brutal cases he’d ever seen.

Mani, a BHS class of 2015 graduate, was 21 years old and four months pregnant when she was found murdered in Wisconsin in April of last year. At the time of her death, Mani was reportedly a University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee student, living with her family in Waukesha County. Neal, the father of her unborn child, shot and stabbed her on April 13, 2018 before hiding her body in a storage locker. Her wrists and ankles were bound with duct tape.

Initially, when Neal was interviewed by Waukesha police, he denied having contact with Mani that day. However, after being shown evidence found by police of their communications that day and a dispute at his home, he admitted to shooting and stabbing her. Neal told police where to find the body after they found traces of blood in his basement.

“It was a bloodbath,” said prosecutor Hanna Kolber, according to Milwaukee’s Fox 6 News. “The room lit up like it was a disco club made for a black light,” referring to investigators’ use of blood detection techniques.

At the sentencing hearing, Mani was remembered as a kind, selfless person. “She was very loveable, selfless, extremely passionate, faithful, loyal,” her mother Anshu Mani reportedly said.

Other family members were left with questions. “Why? Why did you kill her? Why did you destroy our family?” said her father Vijay Mani.

“With sadness and a heavy heart, I forgive you Mr. Neal, because this is what my religion has taught me,” said Ignes Singh, Shannon Mani’s grandmother.

Earlier this year, Blaine community members observed the anniversary of Mani’s death with a candlelight vigil at the Blaine Marine Park amphitheater. Participants watched the sunset at Marine Park and lit candles in Mani’s memory.

One of the vigil’s organizers, Sadie Newell, had been friends with Mani since they were eight years old. Newell described Mani as a selfless person, who helped her through difficult times by underlining the positive.

“Shannon was always so worried about everybody else and put herself last,” Newell said. “So, [the vigil was] a time for me to think about her, because she never took that time for herself.”