Prosecutors say DNA evidence and phone searches tied the suspect to the case.
MILWAUKEE, WI — A 34-year-old Milwaukee man has been charged with first-degree sexual assault and armed robbery after a Marquette University student reported she was attacked near campus in February, authorities said. Investigators said lab testing and cellphone records helped them identify and arrest the suspect.
The charges come after weeks of heightened concern around the neighborhood west of downtown Milwaukee, where students often walk between housing and campus buildings late at night. Prosecutors say the victim was threatened with what she believed was a gun, and that the suspect took her phone before fleeing. The man remains jailed on a $100,000 cash bond, and a preliminary hearing is scheduled for mid-March.
According to a criminal complaint, the assault and robbery occurred Feb. 18 near North 14th Street and West Kilbourn Avenue. The victim, a 20-year-old woman, told police she was walking home around 1:40 a.m. when she noticed a man following her. She said she stepped into an alley north of her residence to see whether the person was still behind her and was confronted there. Investigators say the man pulled what appeared to be a black-and-silver semiautomatic handgun and warned her not to speak. Prosecutors allege he sexually assaulted her and then demanded her cellphone. Milwaukee County Assistant District Attorney Alicia Kort described the case in court as a stranger assault and said the victim managed to scream for help when she saw another person nearby, prompting the suspect to run off.
Marquette University Police Department officers responded around 2:15 a.m., according to investigators. Police said they canvassed the area and located witnesses who reported hearing a woman yelling “Stop!” around 2 a.m. Surveillance video from nearby locations was reviewed as detectives worked to track the suspect’s movements, the complaint says. One set of footage, from the Wisconsin Conservatory of Lifelong Learning at 1017 N. 12th St., captured a person matching the suspect’s description in the area during the time frame described by the victim, investigators said. The video showed the suspect with his arm around the victim’s waist as he directed her toward an alcove, the complaint says, and later showed them reappearing before the suspect ran from the area.
Investigators said physical evidence recovered during the search became central to identifying the suspect. A tan coat was found under a porch at a vacant house on West Highland Avenue, and a plastic gun was recovered from the coat pocket, according to the complaint. Investigators said the plastic gun appeared altered with duct tape, in what they described as an effort to conceal missing parts. A used condom was also recovered nearby, the complaint says. In court, Milwaukee County Court Commissioner Barry Phillips said the victim did not know the weapon was not real when she reported being threatened. “If true, what this person went through was a nightmare,” Phillips said while setting bail, adding that the victim believed she might die if she did not comply.
Authorities said forensic testing provided a key break. A sexual assault forensic exam was conducted and the kit was sent to the Wisconsin Crime Lab, investigators said. On Feb. 25, police were notified that DNA testing linked Tedrick A. Boone to evidence connected to the exam, according to the complaint. Police also said the recovered items were tested and produced DNA results that pointed to Boone. Court records reviewed by investigators also showed Boone had active bench warrants for unresolved misdemeanor fourth-degree sexual assault cases from 2018 and 2019, including one incident reported on the Milwaukee Area Technical College campus, according to records referenced in local reporting and the complaint summary.
Police arrested Boone on Feb. 26 after locating him outside a shelter area near North 13th Street and West Vliet Street, investigators said. The complaint describes officers approaching him and Boone attempting to run. Police said he was briefly grabbed by his jacket, slipped out of it, and tried to flee again before being taken into custody. During a later interview, investigators said Boone told a detective he had an idea why he had been arrested based on what he had seen in news coverage. He denied having contact with Marquette students, according to the complaint.
Prosecutors also pointed to information recovered from Boone’s phone. A partial search of the phone showed that on the morning of Feb. 18, shortly after the time investigators say the assault occurred, Boone searched for information about Marquette calls for service, Kort said in court. Investigators said the phone contained searches for phrases such as “Marquette student raped” multiple times in the days after the incident, along with searches about facial recognition and news coverage of the case. The complaint also describes investigators finding a bookmarked pornography site labeled with nonconsensual themes, which prosecutors cited as part of the record reviewed by police.
The case has drawn close attention because it involves allegations of a stranger assault in an area where students live and walk, often in groups, between off-campus housing and university buildings. Marquette officials said the arrest followed a wide investigation that included shifting mobile camera units into the area, neighborhood canvassing with the help of community ambassadors, and cooperation with the Milwaukee Police Department and other agencies. Marquette University Police Chief Edith Hudson said in a campus safety statement that officers, detectives, and other staff worked around the clock to identify and arrest the suspect. University officials have said they recognize fear and anxiety in the community following the reported attack.
Boone faces one count of first-degree sexual assault with use of a dangerous weapon and one count of armed robbery, according to the complaint and court filings described in local reports. Phillips set Boone’s bond at $100,000 cash during an initial court appearance on March 3. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for March 13, when prosecutors are expected to present evidence to support the charges. If the case proceeds, additional hearings would follow in Milwaukee County Circuit Court, where prosecutors could seek to move toward trial or pursue a plea agreement, depending on the evidence and the defense response.
For now, investigators have not publicly detailed whether additional victims are being investigated or whether more charges could be filed. The complaint and court statements focus on the Feb. 18 incident and the evidence police say ties Boone to it. The defense has not made a detailed public response in court filings described in news coverage, beyond references made during the bail discussion that Boone was homeless and unlikely to be able to post cash bond.
The neighborhood near 14th Street and Kilbourn Avenue, just west of Marquette’s main campus, remained a focus of police activity in the days after the report, including evidence searches at a vacant home and review of security video from nearby buildings. The case is expected to return to court in Milwaukee later this month, with prosecutors relying on forensic results, video review, witness accounts, and digital records as the next steps in the legal process.
Author note: Last updated March 4, 2026.