Inset, left to right: Barry A. Coleman and Jamal White (Milwaukee Police Dept.). Background: Coleman and two others allegedly kidnapping White from in front of his Wisconsin home (WISN).
A Wisconsin teenager who prosecutors say orchestrated the gunpoint kidnapping of a 7-year-old boy in front of his father and held him for a $100,000 ransom admitted his role in the crime Wednesday, months after authorities succeeded in having him charged as an adult.
Barry Alan Coleman, now 15, pleaded guilty to one count of robbery with use of force and one count of possession of a firearm by an adjudicated delinquent, court records show. In exchange for his plea, prosecutors dismissed charges of kidnapping while using a dangerous weapon as a party to a crime and possession of a dangerous weapon by a person under 18, though those offenses will be read in at sentencing.
The plea came after Milwaukee County Circuit Judge David Borowski made clear he would not accept a resolution that treated the case as an ordinary robbery.
"The allegations here are that, candidly, the defendant kidnapped another child at gunpoint," Borowski said during Wednesday's hearing, Milwaukee CBS affiliate WDJT reported. "I was not going to accept plain robbery; I did not think that was appropriate."
The agreement replaces an earlier negotiated plea that Borowski rejected after concluding it was not in the interest of justice, according to a report from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
As Law&Crime previously reported, Coleman was 14 when prosecutors accused him of masterminding a plot to rob the parents of 7-year-old Jamal White before the scheme escalated into the child's July 2025 abduction.
According to a probable cause affidavit, Jamal's father told Milwaukee police he and his son were returning home from a park when a white Jeep Renegade pulled into the driveway behind them, blocking their vehicle. An armed man dressed in black got out of the SUV, prompting the father to run inside the home while Jamal fled toward the backyard.
"He heard his son continually screaming, 'Daddy!' and when he looked outside he observed the black male get back into the car and the car drove off with his son inside," the affidavit states.
Investigators said surveillance footage showed co-defendant Fabian Johnson pointing a handgun while Coleman, who was also armed, chased after Jamal, picked him up and carried him back to the waiting Jeep. Corey Williams allegedly drove the vehicle away.
Williams later told detectives Coleman had originally planned to rob the boy's mother, whom he claimed was "a well-known drug dealer" known to carry cash and drugs. When she never returned home, Coleman allegedly shifted the plan to rob Jamal's father instead. But after the father escaped into the house, Williams said Coleman announced "the plan had changed" and decided they would hold the boy for ransom.
According to the affidavit, Johnson called the child's mother and demanded $100,000 in cash and jewelry in exchange for her son's safe return while the trio kept Jamal overnight at Williams' residence.
Williams also told investigators that Coleman and Johnson discussed physically harming the boy to prove they were serious about the ransom demand, but abandoned the idea after he objected.
Police rescued Jamal about 24 hours after the kidnapping. The boy later told investigators he spent his time playing with toys, watching cartoons and eating McDonald's while being held captive.
Prosecutors have previously described Coleman as the "mastermind" behind the kidnapping plot. Williams and Johnson have also been charged in connection with the case.
Coleman faces up to 25 years in prison — including 15 years of initial confinement followed by 10 years of extended supervision — when he is sentenced Oct. 9.