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Prosecutors: Madison man killed in Calypso Road shooting was set up during drug deal

A criminal complaint alleges Tavis Thurman, 21, was shot multiple times in his car on Madison's north side while trying to sell THC products to a man now charged with homicide. A second man faces a stolen firearm charge, and a gun recovered from the suspect's apartment had been reported stolen from a former Dane County sheriff's deputy.

Prosecutors: Madison man killed in Calypso Road shooting was set up during drug deal

MADISON — A 21-year-old man shot to death last week on the city's north side was in his car to sell THC products when he was killed, according to a criminal complaint filed in Dane County.

Tavis Thurman was shot multiple times at about 8:15 p.m. Friday in the 2300 block of Calypso Road and was pronounced dead at a local hospital, authorities said.

Jaylen Broomfield, 21, is charged with first-degree intentional homicide, first-degree recklessly endangering safety and possession of a machine gun. Jayden Broomfield, 21, is charged with receiving a stolen firearm. Both made initial appearances Friday; Jaylen Broomfield's cash bond was set at $1 million and Jayden Broomfield's at $5,000.

According to the complaint, a woman who was in the vehicle with Thurman said the two were parked on Calypso Road when she heard what sounded like fireworks and felt something strike her arm. When she turned toward Thurman, he was bleeding from his head. She described the gunfire as coming from a fully automatic weapon and sounding like a firecracker.

Witnesses nearby also reported hearing what they believed was machine-gun fire, and one estimated about 10 shots. An officer recovered 10 spent casings at the scene, the complaint states. Another neighbor reported hearing something fall inside his home and later found broken glass in his living room; police found a bullet lodged in the back wall of the home's dining room.

An autopsy found Thurman had been shot in the left side of his head, the left side of his jaw, his left upper arm and his left shoulder.

Investigators allege Thurman had been communicating on Facebook with an account using the username "@jaylen.broomfield" in the days before the shooting and was trying to sell THC products, arranging a deal on Calypso Road for the night he was killed. The last message in the chat was sent by Thurman to Broomfield minutes before the shots were fired, according to the complaint.

A search of Broomfield's apartment turned up multiple handguns, including one with an extended magazine and a machine-gun conversion device, along with identifying documents for Broomfield in a bedroom, the complaint alleges.

Broomfield initially denied knowing Thurman but later acknowledged knowing him from their time together at Memorial High School and knew him to be a drug dealer, according to the complaint. He did not detail a motive when speaking with police, the complaint states.

One of the guns recovered from the apartment had belonged to a former Dane County Sheriff's Office deputy and had been inside a vehicle the deputy reported stolen, according to the complaint. The weapon had a Michael Myers sticker on its backplate. A search of Jayden Broomfield's phone allegedly showed a photo of the deputy's vehicle taken the day it was stolen and another of a person crouched on the vehicle's hood two days after it was reported stolen.

The case adds to a grim stretch of gun violence in Madison. Police have been investigating a string of deadly shootings in recent days, and the Calypso Road killing has drawn attention for the type of weapon allegedly used: a handgun modified with a conversion device that allows it to fire like a machine gun. Such devices, often called switches, are illegal under federal law and have become a growing concern for law enforcement agencies nationwide because they make firearms far more lethal and harder to trace.

The complaint's account also highlights how stolen firearms can move from law enforcement inventories into the hands of people accused of violent crime. The former deputy's gun was reported stolen from a vehicle, a common pathway for guns to enter the black market.

Thurman's death has shaken residents of the Calypso Road neighborhood, where the gunfire broke windows and sent a bullet into a dining room wall. Community members have called for both accountability and a broader response to gun violence, including investment in violence-prevention programs and stronger efforts to keep stolen weapons off the streets.

Jaylen Broomfield remains in custody on $1 million cash bond. Jayden Broomfield is being held on $5,000 cash bond. Court records do not yet list attorneys for either man, and the charges against them are allegations that have not been proven in court.

Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to contact Madison Area Crime Stoppers.

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