Milwaukee 4-year-old boy fatally shot; child's father sentenced to life

MILWAUKEE - A Milwaukee County judge sentenced Ralph Taylor on Thursday, April 23 to life in prison without the possibility of extended supervision, in the July 2025 fatal shooting of his 4-year-old son, Ralph Taylor III. Taylor, 35, was found guilty at trial on March 12, of first-degree intentional homicide and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. 

Sentencing of father convicted of killing son

What they're saying:

Taylor was given the option to speak to the court before being handed his sentence. 

"I do still proclaim my innocence. I didn't murder my boy. I didn't do that. But I am responsible for it because I put him in a situation that wasn't safe. That's something I'm gonna have to live with for the rest of my life," Taylor told the court.

Judge Borowski then spoke directly to Taylor for more than 20 minutes. He did not mince words. 

"You may be the most monstrously evil human being that has ever sat in front of me. You are evidence that evil exists in the world. You are the face of it, pure evil," Judge Borowski said. "The need to protect the public for Mr. Taylor is immense. It's enormous. I think that if Mr. Taylor can murder his own child, why would he bat an eyelash at murdering somebody else in the street, killing another citizen, killing a neighbor if he got out, killing his wife, killing his stepson, why not?"

After handing down his sentence, the judge said,"Mr. Taylor needs to die in prison. Hopefully thinking about the carnage that he has wrought every single day."

Case details

The backstory:

The crime that Taylor was convicted of unfolded at an apartment near 75th and Northridge Lakes in Milwaukee on Thursday night, July 10, 2025.

According to the criminal complaint, Milwaukee police were dispatched to the residence around 9:30 p.m. When officers arrived, they were met by several people yelling for help, indicating that a child was shot. On the third floor of the residence, they found the 4-year-old just inside the doorway of a bedroom on the third floor. Despite life-saving efforts by police and the Milwaukee Fire Department, the child, Ralph Taylor III, was pronounced deceased on the scene.

When police initially spoke with defendant Ralph Taylor, he said he was on the phone when he heard a gunshot. Taylor "claimed the gunshot must have come from outside and entered the bedroom through an open third story window. Ralph Taylor told (an officer) there were no weapons or firearms inside the residence," the complaint says. The complaint says the subsequent investigation "would establish that Ralph Taylor lied about all of the surrounding circumstances surrounding how his own four-year-old son...was shot," the complaint says. 

In an interview not long after the initial one, the complaint says Ralph Taylor told another officer "that he was texting with his wife while (the 4-year-old) was jumping on a mattress. Ralph Taylor heard a gunshot and observed (the child) fall to the floor. Again, Ralph Taylor claimed that the gunshot must have come through an open third-story window to the residence and struck (the child)," the complaint says.

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A detective interviewed a witness on Thursday. She told police she "checked her Ring camera and observed Casandra Taylor, the mother of (the 4-year-old), outside screaming, 'my son, my son, somebody shot my son through the window!'" the complaint says. When the witness went outside and approached Casandra Taylor, Taylor asked the witness to go upstairs and check on her son. She and another neighbor went into the residence and spotted Ralph Taylor holding the child and screaming. As the second neighbor was administering CPR to the child, the complaint says Ralph Taylor said, 'I got to hide my guns.'"

When the first witness left the residence, the complaint says Casandra Taylor approached her and asked her to hold Taylor's purse for her. The witness was "concerned that the purse had a gun inside and refused to hold the purse," the complaint says. The witness said another neighbor took the purse -- and when that neighbor "checked the purse, there was a gun inside," the complaint says.

Evidence located at scene

What we know:

A Milwaukee police detective was placed in charge of the scene investigation. The detective reported that a Glock semi-automatic handgun was "recovered wrapped inside of two plastic bags in a large Rubbermaid storage container inside a closet located on the third floor" of the residence. The complaint says the "gun had suspected blood on the grip and slide. Inside the same Rubbermaid container there was a Crown Royal bag that contained 96 rounds of 9mm ammunition." Located on the floor of the bedroom where the child was shot, investigators found a single 9mm round, "which would be consistent with a person ejecting the round from a gun to clear the chamber," the complaint says.

Interview of Ralph Taylor

What they're saying:

On July 11, Milwaukee police detectives conducted an interview with Ralph Taylor. The complaint says he initially provided the same response he gave to police on the scene -- that the child had been struck by someone who fired a shot through an open window. About an hour and 13 minutes into the interview, Taylor provided a new version of events, claiming his gun was under a pillow and he never saw the child go underneath the pillows, "but he was behind me and my back was to him. I heard the shot," the complaint says.

Before confronting Ralph Taylor with the inconsistencies in this latest version of events, a detective asked what an argument with Casandra Taylor was about. Taylor "admitted that he and Casandra Taylor were arguing over his lack of taking care of (the child)," the complaint says. After the shooting, Taylor "claimed that he put the Glock back underneath the pillows because 'I am a felon,'" the complaint says.

Charges against Casandra Taylor

What we know:

Casandra Taylor, the 4-year-old's mother, was charged in this case with neglecting a child (consequence is death) and straw purchasing of a firearm. She is scheduled to be in court on June 22 for a plea/sentencing hearing. 

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