A Dream Shot Down: Yolanda “La La” Brown

In this episode of Hunting 4 Answers: In 2007, when rising R&B star Yolanda “La La” Brown and her producer boyfriend were found murdered inside a Milwaukee recording studio, the local music scene was shaken to its core. What should have been the start of a breakthrough became the end of two young lives full of promise. Nearly two decades later, justice has yet to be served. 

This is the story of Yolanda "La La" Brown. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hunting for Answers is a production of the Black Effect
Podcast Network and iHeartRadio. Welcome to Hunting for Answers, a
true crime podcast. I'm your host Hunter, and today we're
highlighting a case that happened in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on October nineteenth,
two thousand and seven. This double murder shocked the local

(00:21):
music community and left two families devastated when a rising
R and B star and her producer boyfriend were gunned
down in a recording studio. Today, the case remains in
legal limbo, with the alleged perpetrator having yet to be
brought to justice. This is the story of Yolanda Brown.

(00:48):
Yolanda Rose Brown was born on May twentieth, nineteen eighty six,
in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to Maria and William Brown. She was
the youngest of five children in a loving family that
supported her musical dreams from a very early age. She
attended Milwaukee High School of the Arts, where she was

(01:08):
able to work on her wedding talents. At age eleven,
she was already performing under the stage name Premiere, and
at just twenty one years old, Yolanda had already begun
making a name for herself in the music industry. She
performed under the stage name La La and was achieving

(01:29):
things that most young artists dreamt of. She was reaching
successful milestones like touring with R and B singer Life
Jennings and even being featured on his track Sex, which
reached the top five on Billboard's Hot R and B
and Hip Hop Songs chart. But Yolanda's rising career came

(01:50):
a challenges. She had become a teenage mother at sixteen,
and by two thousand and seven, she was raising a
four year old daughter. Despite the obstacles of young parenthood,
nothing could dim her determination to make it in the
music business. However, in two thousand and seven, Yolanda's career

(02:12):
hit a bit of a snag. Following an argument with
Life Jennings, she was kicked off of his tour and
ultimately returned back home to Milwaukee, Wisconsin. For many artists,
this would have been a devastating setback, but for Yolanda,
she was motivated to immediately start shaping her solo career.

(02:34):
She began working on new tracks with her boyfriend Jets
New Koolaid Clayborne, a talented record producer who believed in
her talents. Clayborne owned loud Enough Productions, which was a
recording studio where the couple spent countless hours crafting what
they hoped would be Yolanda's breakthrough sound. Friends and family

(02:57):
said the pair were on the verge of making it big.
They had the talent, the drive, and the passion. All
they needed was time. But time was something that they
would never get. October nineteenth, two thousand and seven, a
Friday night in Milwaukee, Yolanda and Jetinue were at the

(03:21):
loud Enough Productions recording studio, likely working on new music
late into the evening, as they often did. The studio,
located near fifty fifth in Lisbon, was their creative sanctuary,
a place where dreams were turned into melodies. But sometime
that night, their dreams turned into a nightmare. An assailant

(03:46):
stormed into the recording studio where the couple was working
and opened fire. Both Yolanda and Jettineau were shot and
left for dead in the very place where they had
hoped to create their future. For three days, the bodies
of Yolanda Brown and jettam Claiborne lay undiscovered in the

(04:09):
recording studio. It wasn't until later when investigators finally determined
that the pair had been dead for at least three days.
The discovery sent shockwaves through Milwaukee's music community. Yolanda's family
was devastated. Her parents had lost a talented daughter and

(04:31):
the youngest of their five children, and a four year
old little girl had lost her mother, a woman who
had dreams of giving her daughter a better life through
her music. The Milwaukee Police Department launched an investigation, but
leeds were scarce. Who would want to kill two young

(04:52):
people who were simply trying to make music. Was it
a robbery gone wrong, a tar it had hit, or
something more personal. As months turned into years, the case
grew cold. Detectives chase leads and interviewed witnesses, but no

(05:15):
arrests were made. The double murder that had shaken the
community began to fade from public memory, but Yolanda's family
never gave up hope. Nearly a decade had passed. October nineteenth,
twenty fifteen, marked the eighth anniversary of Yolanda and Jettanud's depths.

(05:38):
By then, Yolanda's daughter was a teenager, the same age
her mother had been when she had become pregnant with
her but In the summer of twenty sixteen, there was
finally a breakthrough. Milwaukee Police confirmed they had a suspect
and custody out of state on unrelated charges. The suspect

(06:04):
was believed to be connected to the two thousand and
seven homicide of Yolanda Brown and Jetanu Claiborne. Yolanda's father,
William had told reporters the guy that they said is
responsible is incarcerated out of state and he is not
going nowhere right now, so they're not rushing it, but

(06:26):
they would like to bring them back to stand trial
on this one. The family had waited nine years for
this moment, but now they faced another weight, the wheels
of justice returning but slowly, very slowly. In twenty seventeen,

(06:47):
Milwaukee Police completed their investigation and turned the case over
to the Milwaukee County District Attorney's office, awaiting a charging decision.
The detective work was done, the suspect was identified. Now
it was up to the prosecutors. But even with the

(07:09):
suspect identified, the legal process still created a lot of
frustration for the Brown family. They voiced concerns of how
long it was taking to bring the perp to justice.
Yolanda's father said, do like you told me, charge the
person that you say you was going to charge, jet

(07:31):
to nu Claiborne's family was also seeking answers. His mother,
Dinah Chambers, reflected on her son's impact and expressed all
of the things that he did in their community and
how he touched people with his music. Both families had
lost promising young people who were only trying to make

(07:52):
something of themselves in the music industry. As of the
last available reports, the case remains in legal limbo. The
suspect has been identified and is in custody, but it's
unclear whether charges have been filed or if extradition proceedings
have begun to bring the suspect back to Milwaukee. The

(08:16):
Milwaukee County District Attorney's office and police gave conflicting statements
about the status of the investigation, with police saying the
case had been turned over for charging decisions, while prosecutors
claimed the investigation was still active. Today, Yolanda Brown would

(08:37):
be thirty nine years old. Her daughter is now an
adult older than Yolanda was when she was murdered. My
thoughts and prayers are with the families of both Yolanda
La La Brown and Jutinu late Claiborne. The music that
they were working on that October night in two thousand
and seven might never be heard, but their deaths deserve

(09:01):
justice and their loved ones deserve closure. As we close
out this episode, don't forget to click the follow button
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(09:24):
let us know your thoughts on this case down in
the comments. Thank you so much for joining us on
another episode. Until next time. Hunting for Answers is a

(09:54):
production of the Black Effect Podcast Network. For more podcasts
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