Jesse Garza

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

A Milwaukee man has been charged in the death of his girlfriend who was shot to death by a woman she tried to rob, according to a criminal complaint.

Lashawn E. Gates, 26, is charged with felony murder in the death of 17-year-old Andreana Manney on Feb. 9 in the 3900 block of North 16th Street, the complaint said.

According to the complaint, Gates supplied Manney with the .40 caliber handgun that she used while attempting to rob a woman of a laptop computer and an Apple watch.

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Using a fake name, Gates had contacted the intended victim and arranged the bogus purchase on the website "letgo."

He was on the phone with the woman just before the robbery attempt and told her his girlfriend would conduct the transaction so that the woman would feel more comfortable.

After Manney entered the woman's vehicle, she pointed the handgun she got from Gates at the victim and announced the robbery. The two began to struggle over the gun before Manney exited the vehicle while shooting at the woman.

The woman, a concealed-carry permit holder, then retrieved her own firearm and shot Manney multiple times, according to the complaint.

The killing has been determined to be an act of self-defense, according to Milwaukee police.

The shooting occurred near where Gates and another man, Emmanuel Watkins-Christopher, 29, robbed a man of an Xbox Battlefield V video game system Jan. 17 after arranging the sale on "Let's Go," according to the complaint.

Both Gates and Watkins-Christopher are charged with armed robbery in that incident, with Gates being charged as a repeat offender because of a 2013 robbery conviction, according to the complaint.

The 2013 robbery stemmed from the bogus purchase of a PlayStation that Gates arranged on Craig's List, the complaint said.

Watkins-Christopher was in custody Monday in the Milwaukee County Jail, with his bail set at $10,000, according to jail records.

Gates, who was convicted of soliciting a child for prostitution in 2011 and robbery in 2012, was in custody Monday in the state's Milwaukee Secure Detention Facility.