5-Year-Old Boy Found Dead in Milwaukee Dumpster: 'Just the Sweetest Little Boy'
Two persons of interest, a 27-year-old man and a 15-year-old boy, are currently in custody
A 5-year-old boy in Milwaukee was reported missing on Wednesday. A day later, he was found dead in a dumpster.
Milwaukee police opened a homicide investigation after the boy, Prince McCree, was found dead about a mile away from his home in the city’s Uptown neighborhood, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported. He was found around 9 a.m. on Thursday, approximately 24 hours after he was last seen alive.
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A cause of death is currently under investigation. Police have taken two persons of interest into custody — a man, 27, and boy, 15, according to the Wisconsin outlet.
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LaTonya Johnson, a state senator and neighbor of the kindergartener’s family, told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that the persons of interest live together, but noted that she is not certain of their relation to the 5-year-old and his family.
Johnson also said that McCree’s parents were shocked, and spent much of Wednesday night knocking door-to-door in the neighborhood in search of their missing son.
“They were distraught,” Johnson told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “It was a shock.”
She added, “This neighborhood is relatively quiet. You don’t see a lot of police activity. We knew it was something serious.”
After McCree was reported missing on Wednesday, police issued a "critically missing" alert to media outlets around 8:30 p.m., per the outlet.
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On Friday, Marie Stillo, a cousin of McCree’s mother, told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that the 5-year-old was “just the sweetest little boy.”
"He loved his sister and brother very much, he loved school and learning, he loved everything superheroes, and when he was very little, he loved Baby Shark," Stillo said of the kindergartener, adding that he had just lost his second baby tooth.
She said that a vigil for McCree — who had just started elementary school — would take place over the weekend.
"We are very sad at what happened, and it wasn't fair, but now we are just trying to deal with it and put him to rest and help my cousin as much as she can," she concluded.
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Stillo also created a GoFundMe to raise money “to provide Prince with a funeral and headstone that he deserves, and to help his mom and dad with whatever they may need during this difficult time,” according to the fundraiser description.
As of Sunday afternoon, the GoFundMe had exceeded its $10,000 goal.
“Prince loved Transformers, Spiderman, Fortnite, Roblox, school, learning, and Baby Shark when he was younger,” Stillo wrote alongside the GoFundMe. “Our little angel was very loved by his father, mother, brother, sister, grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins, and many other loved ones and friends.”
“Our family has many questions at this time, some we may never have any answers to,” she wrote. “Prince’s mother and father are both devastated, and now have to lay their baby to rest, something no parent should ever have to do.”
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