Torrance "Tory" Medley

At a glance

Location Brookfield Hills Golf Course, near I-94 and Moorland Road, Brookfield (Waukesha County), Wisconsin
Dates Last seen November 11, 2025 · found November 13, 2025
Torrance "Tory" Medley Age 39 · Milwaukee · former Milwaukee Area Technical College student · an artist who, his family says, often communicated through his drawings
Circumstances Found shortly before noon on November 13, kneeling at a tree with a strap around his neck attached to a branch, his feet on the ground (per the police chief's description of the scene)
Police position November 23, 2025 statement: the investigation indicates suicide by asphyxiation using body weight; no trauma beyond asphyxiation; no evidence another person was present; the Medical Examiner's Office completed an autopsy; the case remained open while detectives reviewed possible surveillance footage
Family position The conclusion came before the investigation was complete; the family, its attorney and the Waukesha and Milwaukee NAACP chapters demand full transparency — surveillance footage, autopsy results and a complete timeline
Status As of The Final Call's December 29, 2025 report, police and the Waukesha County Medical Examiner had not completed their forensic investigations or released an official final cause of death. No later official update appears in the record this file relies on

Torrance "Tory" Medley

Torrance Medley — "Tory" to his family — was a 39-year-old Milwaukee man and former MATC student who, those close to him say, was quiet and often said through his drawings what he had difficulty saying aloud. On the evening of Tuesday, November 11, 2025, he was last seen leaving the Milwaukee rooming house where he lived. Two days later, shortly before noon on Thursday, November 13, first responders found him dead at the Brookfield Hills Golf Course in Brookfield, a suburb roughly ten miles west — kneeling at a tree, a strap around his neck fixed to a branch, his feet on the ground, as the police chief later described the scene.

The Brookfield Police Department characterized the death as a suicide the same day, telling FOX6 News Milwaukee that the preliminary investigation indicated suicide and that police had no information a crime was involved. Ten days later, on November 23, Chief Chris Garcia issued a fuller written statement: the investigation indicates Medley died by suicide, asphyxiation by his own body weight; there were no injuries beyond asphyxiation, and no evidence that anyone else was present; the department noted that Medley had been experiencing mental-health challenges in the days before his death; the Medical Examiner's Office had completed an autopsy; and the case remained open while detectives reviewed possible surveillance footage.

His family has not accepted how quickly that conclusion was reached. His sister, Shena Medley, said publicly that the death was labeled a possible suicide before basic questions were examined — starting with the one the family returns to in every statement: Medley had no car, and they know of no reason he would be at a Brookfield golf course at night. Through attorney William Sulton, and standing with the Waukesha and Milwaukee branches of the NAACP, the family has demanded the surveillance footage, the autopsy results and a complete timeline. Some footage has since been shown or released to the family — transit video from November 11 and video placing Medley in Brookfield on November 12 — while the family continues to seek camera footage from the three hotels and the golf course surrounding the spot where he was found. As of the end of December 2025, neither the police department nor the Medical Examiner's Office had released a final, official cause of death. This file records the positions and the paper trail — attributed, in order — and nothing beyond them.

The timeline — full text

Public statements — who has said what, on the record

• City of Brookfield Police Department · Nov. 13, 2025In a statement to FOX6 the day Medley was found, the department said the preliminary investigation was indicating that he died by suicide, and that police had no information at that point to indicate a crime was involved. — FOX6 News Milwaukee READ ARTICLE
• Chief Chris Garcia, Brookfield PD · Nov. 23, 2025The department's written news release: no indication of foul play at this stage; no trauma beyond asphyxiation; no evidence anyone else was present; asphyxiation by body weight; mental-health challenges in the preceding days; the Medical Examiner's autopsy completed; the case open while footage is reviewed; verified information to be shared when available. — News release as carried in reporting READ ARTICLE
• Shena Medley, his sister · November 2025In a public statement, she wrote that the death was immediately labeled a possible suicide before critical questions about how he got there and what happened were fully examined, and that the family expects and demands complete transparency from the department. — Public statement READ ARTICLE
• William Sulton, family attorney · Nov. 28, 2025 press conferenceSulton said the chief arrived at a conclusion on a death investigation that had not been completed, and would not talk to the family about it; that death investigations are done by forensic pathologists, not police officers; and that the family has no reason to believe Medley would have taken his own life or come to the Brookfield Hills Golf Course. He also alleged — his characterization, not an official finding — that the chief had pressed the Medical Examiner's Office toward a suicide declaration. No response to that specific allegation appears in the record this file relies on. — Press-conference reporting READ ARTICLE; The Final Call READ ARTICLE
• Montre Moore, Waukesha County NAACP · November–December 2025Moore said the circumstances are extraordinarily unusual, that the NAACP stands as a bridge to greater transparency between the family and authorities, and that the department's pace in sharing information has heightened the family's frustration. — READ ARTICLE READ ARTICLE
• Waukesha NAACP · statementThe chapter's published account notes the official cause of death has not been definitively closed in public statements, and lists the family's questions: how a Milwaukee man without a car came to be at a suburban golf course late at night; why suicide was determined so quickly; and whether every investigative avenue has been exhausted and shared — surveillance footage, autopsy results, a comprehensive timeline. — Waukesha NAACP READ ARTICLE
• Shena Medley · 2026, after months of waitingHer stated position, in substance: if the facts show suicide she accepts that; if they show something else, that matters too — and in the meantime the information should be shared so the family and the public are looking at the same record. — MATC Times READ ARTICLE

People in the record

The records — what exists, and what has not been released

• Police news release — Chief Garcia's written statement of November 23, 2025, summarizing the investigation's position. Status: PUBLIC — issued by the department and carried in reporting
• Surveillance footage — exists on multiple sources: transit video from November 11 and footage placing Medley in Brookfield on November 12 have been shown or released to the family; police said in November 2025 that detectives were still reviewing possible footage; the family continues to seek the hotel and golf-course camera footage from around the site. Status: PARTIALLY SHOWN TO FAMILY · NOT PUBLICLY RELEASED
• County autopsy — completed by the Waukesha County Medical Examiner's Office, per the police statement. Status: COMPLETED · REPORT NOT PUBLICLY RELEASED in the record reviewed
• Final cause of death — as of December 29, 2025, neither the department nor the Medical Examiner had completed the forensic investigations or released an official final cause of death. Status: NOT RELEASED · no later release found
• Police investigative file — the case was described as open in the November 2025 statements. Status: NOT RELEASED
• Independent autopsy — the family fundraised for an independent autopsy and independent forensic analysis; no independent findings have been published. Status: SOUGHT BY FAMILY · NO FINDINGS PUBLIC

The unverified record — what is being said online

As with other files in this library, the online layer is preserved because it is part of why this case is watched — credited, paraphrased, and stamped. None of it is evidence, and officials have addressed parts of it directly.

• "It was a lynching, and it's being covered up." Advocacy posts and commentary online assert the death was a racially motivated killing and that officials are concealing it. UNVERIFIED The police position on the record is that there is no evidence any other person was present and no indication of foul play; no official finding supports the claim. — Online commentary, 2025–2026
• "His belongings are unaccounted for." Advocacy commentary further claims that personal items of Medley's are missing, that contradictions exist in the official account, and that police refuse to explain them. UNVERIFIED These specifics do not appear in the news reporting this file relies on, and no official source has confirmed them. — Online commentary, 2026
• "An independent pathologist has already been retained." A single secondary source reports that the family hired an independent pathologist whose results have not been made public. UNVERIFIED The family's own fundraiser sought money for an independent autopsy; beyond that, this detail is single-sourced and no findings have been published. — Single secondary report, 2025

Documents & reporting

Watch & listen

• 🎥 FOX6 News Milwaukee — the station's segment on the discovery and the family's push for transparency. The department's first statement was issued to FOX6. Watch the segment →
• 🎥 WISN 12 News — coverage of the family seeking answers, with Shena Medley. Watch the segment →

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