Milwaukee child killed: Mother gets probation for helping felon

MILWAUKEE - A Milwaukee mother was sentenced to probation for harboring/aiding a felon after her 4-year-old son was shot and killed.

Parents sentenced

In court:

Casandra Taylor received five years of probation on June 22. Her son, 4-year-old Ralph Taylor III, was shot at an apartment near 75th and Northridge Lakes in Milwaukee on July 10, 2025.

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The child's father, Ralph Taylor, was sentenced in April to life in prison without the possibility of extended supervision. He was convicted of first-degree intentional homicide and illegal firearm possession.

Case details

The backstory:

According to a criminal complaint, Milwaukee police were called to an apartment near 75th and Northridge Lakes in Milwaukee on the night of July 10, 2025. When officers arrived, they were met by several people yelling for help, indicating that a child was shot. On the third floor, they found the 4-year-old just inside the doorway of a bedroom. Despite life-saving efforts by police and the Milwaukee Fire Department, Ralph Taylor III was pronounced dead at the scene.

When police initially spoke with 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. He told an officer there were no weapons or firearms inside the residence, the complaint said, and 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."

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In an interview not long after the initial one, the complaint said 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)."

A detective later interviewed a witness. 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 said. 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 said Ralph Taylor said, "'I got to hide my guns.'"

When the first witness left the residence, the complaint said 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 said. The witness said another neighbor took the purse – and when that neighbor "checked the purse, there was a gun inside," the complaint said.

Evidence found 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 said 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 said.

Interview of Ralph Taylor

What they're saying:

On July 11, Milwaukee police detectives conducted an interview with Ralph Taylor. The complaint said 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 said.

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 said. After the shooting, Taylor "claimed that he put the Glock back underneath the pillows because 'I am a felon,'" the complaint said.

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