Milwaukee, WI
‘I’m at peace’: Sister of Milwaukee man killed in road rage incident will pray for now-confessed gunman
Romonia Butler-Foster let deep-seated feelings of anger and acrimony simmer insider her for more than a year.
All of them were directed at Demetreon T. Caston-Townsend, the Milwaukee man who police said gunned down her brother in front of four of his children and sped away.
She felt the same way Monday as she strode into a Milwaukee County courtroom for what was the latest hearing for the accused killer.
Then, it happened: Caston-Townsend, sitting at a defendant’s table, just a few feet away from her, uttered the words she had long awaited.
And just like that, her heart felt differently. Lighter.
“To hear him tell the judge ‘I’m guilty …’ That ‘I’m the one guilty of this crime’ … it was just a release,” said Butler-Foster, 53. “I needed to hear that.”
‘I can breathe again’
On Monday, Caston-Townsend pleaded guilty to second-degree reckless homicide in Ronald “Hollywood” Butler’s July 19, 2022, death.
Police said someone opened fire on his van at Mill Avenue and 89th Street, on the city’s northwest side. Four of Butler’s children — ages 2, 9, and 10-year-old twins at the time — were riding with him when the shooting occurred.
They saw the moment their father died. Caston-Townsend now admits to pulling the trigger and killing Butler as his children looked on.
“I can breathe again because I know the man who is responsible for killing my brother is locked up,” Butler-Foster said.
Ronald Butler’s children witnessed his slaying
According to a criminal complaint, a Chevy Equinox ran a red light at the intersection and nearly collided with Butler’s van.
One of Butler’s sons would later recount for investigators in the complaint how Butler yelled at the other driver to stop speeding because there are kids in the car. That’s when a shot was fired; the son recalled seeing his father slumped over in the driver’s seat.
The van came to a stop after hitting a light pole.
No arrests were made initially; the gunman had eluded police for months. Caston-Townsend was arrested about eight months after the shooting.
Prosecutors dismissed a count of first-degree recklessly endangering safety that Caston-Townsend also faced. That charge still will be read in and considered at sentencing March 29.
Butler-Foster said she leans heavily on her faith to get through the grief of losing her brother, whom she described as a friendly, outgoing protector who doted on family and would “give you the shirt off his back if you needed it.”
Each morning, Butler-Foster passes Graceland Cemetery, at 43rd and Mill, on the way to her job as a school bus driver. Her brother is buried there.
“I tell him ‘Good morning’ every day … (And) I tell him good night every time I pass him on my way home,” she said.
Butler-Foster has been concentrating more on helping raise her brother’s children.
While Butler-Foster says the man Caston-Townsend deserves a long prison sentence, she’s at “a place of peace.” She said she also plans to pray for the killer and his family.
“They’re going to lose their baby,” Butler-Foster said. “I’m gonna put it in God’s hands, because I know I wouldn’t want to go through anything like this.”
“If he doesn’t serve a day in prison, I’m at peace. My brother is resting, and I know he’s looking down on us, watching over us.”
Milwaukee Public Schools superintendent talks about youth gun violence
Milwaukee Public Schools Superintendent Brenda Cassellius has worked in Minneapolis, Memphis and Boston. She says she has never seen gun violence so bad.
A Milwaukee teenager convicted of killing two St. Anthony High School students will spend the rest of his life behind bars.
Circuit Judge Laura Crivello handed down the life sentence for Moses Martinez on Nov. 14. Martinez filed papers that same day signaling his intent to appeal the conviction, online court records show.
Martinez was 17 when prosecutors say he fatally shot Diego Herrera-Mejia, 16, and Isaac Rodriguez, 15, on the 800 block of West Manitoba Street on June 15, 2024.
In August, a jury found Martinez, now 18, guilty of two counts of first-degree intentional homicide, first-degree reckless injury and fleeing police.
The state dismissed charges of driving a vehicle without the owner’s consent and misdemeanor possession of a dangerous weapon by a minor.
Here’s what prosecutors say happened to Diego Herrera-Mejia and Isaac Rodriguez
Family members told police investigators the two teens were walking with a few friends and cousins on Manitoba Street when “some guys on a scooter” came up to them and tried to provoke them.
A third person, a 14-year-old girl, also was shot, but survived the attack.
Martinez was arrested two months after the shooting.
Diego and Isaac, friends since middle school, were set to begin their sophomore year together in the fall at St. Anthony, on Milwaukee’s south side.
According to a criminal complaint, a 14-year-old girl told police she was part of a group that was walking away from a party when two teens approached on a scooter.
At some point, one of the two teens pulled out a gun and started shooting at the group, hitting Diego and Isaac, the complaint says. The girl also was injured by gunfire but survived.
Why was this case important?
Martinez’s trial offered the latest evidence of Milwaukee’s ongoing struggle with a swell of juvenile crime involving guns and homicides.
There have been 128 homicides reported in the city of Milwaukee in 2025 as of Nov. 13. During the same period in 2024, the year Diego and Isaac were killed, there were 117 killings reported in the city, according to Milwaukee police statistics.
There have been 20 homicides reported in Milwaukee since January involving victims 17 and younger, compared with 17 during all of 2024, department statistics say.
In 2023, there were 16 child homicides reported in the city.
Chris Ramirez covers courts for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. He can be reached at caramirez@gannett.com.
Courtesy: Milwaukee Admirals
MILWAUKEE – Admirals netminder Ethan Haider made life “ruff” for the Stars as Milwaukee got back on the winning track with a 3-1 victory over Texas on Saturday night – the team’s first Sendik’s Dog Day of the season.
By the numbers:
Texas took an early 1-0 lead as Kole Lind scored on their first shot of the game 1:16 into the opening period, but that was all the Stars would get as Haider backboned the Ads defense, turning aside the next 22 shots and helping to kill off all four Texas power-plays.
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Haider stopped 22 of the 23 shots he faced to pick up his first AHL win.
The Admirals would score the game’s final three goals beginning with Reid Schaefer’s first of the season at 11:04 of the first. Ryan Ufko carried the puck from the top of the right circle around the Texas net and had his wrap-around attempt denied by netminder Ben Kraws, but Schaefer pounced on the rebound and scored into an open net.
Jordan Oesterle’s seeing-eyed shot from the left point with less than two minutes to go in the first found its way through traffic and over the shoulder of Kraws to give the Admirals the lead at 2-1.
Jake Lucchini’s second goal of the week and third of the season at 6:59 of the second period gave the Ads some insurance. The play started when Milwaukee came 3-on-3 into the Texas zone and Cole O’Hara left a drop pass for Lucchini, and he ripped it blocker-side for a 3-1 advantage.
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Schaefer and Oesterle each finished with a goal and an assist in the contest to pace the offense and help Milwaukee to their eighth win in their first 12 games of the season.
What’s next:
The Admirals are back in action with a pair of games next weekend in Henderson against the Silver Knights. Their next home game is against Iowa on Wednesday, Nov. 26 at 7 p.m.
The Source: The Milwaukee Admirals provided this report.
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