Milwaukee road rage shooting; man sentenced, family mourns
MILWAUKEE - After a man was sentenced in connection to a road rage shooting that killed a father in front of his children, one Milwaukee family is saying that isn’t enough.
Ronald Butler Jr.’s family said inside the courtroom, they felt a roller coaster of emotions. While they did not get what they wanted, they do feel they can close this painful chapter.
For almost two years now, his family has been wearing special t-shirts in their walk for justice.
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Tuesday, April 16, his sister, Romonia Butler-Foster was there for their final day in court, face to face with Demetreon Caston-Townsend, the man who pleaded guilty to second-degree reckless homicide in the case.
"It’s hard to imagine life without him so I try to imagine and pretend that he is still alive," Butler-Foster said. "When he walked in my heart dropped to the bottom, because there he was, right there and alive."
Caston-Townsend was sentenced to 19 years in prison plus an additional 10 years of extended supervision in connection with the shooting death of Butler in July 2022. Butler was a Milwaukee father killed in the road rage shooting while he drove with four of his kids near 87th and Mill.
"This is not justice for my brother. This is a chapter that’s closed. Justice for my brother looks like life," Butler-Foster said. "A life for a life. If you take a life, you should have to pay with your life."
Family said he was heading to a birthday party with his children in the car when he was shot in the head.
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"My brother just yelled out, ‘hey man, slow down, I got my kids in the car,’ and he shot him," the victim’s sister said. "I can’t even make sense of that."
A witness told prosecutors Caston-Townsend threw the shell casing in the sewer and burned his clothes, which left the victim’s mother, Vellogie Butler, in a world of hurt.
"[I’m] upset, I’m sorry," she said. "He should have got more than 19 years. He took the kids' father away from them."
The family said Caston-Townsend did read a statement apologizing to them in court Tuesday, but said he denied pulling the trigger, which felt like a slap in the face.
