A tragic scene unfolded in Milwaukee when a 4-year-old boy was fatally shot on Thursday night, leading to the arrest of two individuals. FOX6 News reports that the shooting occurred at an apartment near 75th Street and Northridge Lakes, and police have taken into custody a 34-year-old man on suspicion of first-degree intentional homicide, and a 33-year-old woman for aiding and abetting a felon.
The boy, identified by the Milwaukee County Medical Examiner's Office as Ralph Taylor III, was in a top-floor bedroom of the Glenbrook Apartment Homes when the incident happened, neighbors rushed to help after hearing the gunshot, said Tangella Williams in a statement obtained by WISN 12 News, "My neighbor did CPR on him," and "The 911 operator was instructing us what to do," Williams recalled the desperate efforts to revive the child.
The father, present during the attempts to save his son, did not assist, only pacing back and forth while the others tried to render aid, Williams told WISN 12 News; the boy known to neighbors as RJ was non-verbal autistic, "He couldn't talk, but he was the happiest kid when you seen him. He was so happy, real happy, the sweetest kid," Williams added.
Following the tragedy, Williams also recounted that the woman involved in the situation handed her a purse which, upon inspection, contained a gun, Williams promptly informed the authorities stating to police, "It's a gun in there," as detailed in a report by WISN 12 News; meanwhile, a nearby witness described the frantic moments as they tried to help the child, conveying a scene of palpable distress and urgency detailed in a report from the Milwaukee County Medical Examiner's Office, with these heart-wrenching details also echoed in a neighbor's account to TMJ4.
