MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN: The family of a five-year-old boy who was found beaten to death and wrapped in a garbage bag has broken silence after the killers were charged with murder.
Prince McCree was found "blood-soaked, bound, and gagged in the fetal position" about a mile on West Vliet Street on October 26, just one day after he disappeared from his house.
Erik Mendoza, 15, and David Pietura, 27, have been charged with first-degree intentional homicide in the beating and stabbing of the little boy.
They then told police they didn't know where he was, deliberately misleading them. The accused teenager and the adult were also charged with repeated physical child abuse causing death, and hiding a corpse.
They are being held on $500,000 cash bonds and are not allowed to contact each other or the victim's family.
What did the victim's family members tell the authorities?
Although local police sent out a "critically missing alert," they didn't issue an Amber Alert saying that the little boy didn't "meet the criteria."
Wisconsin Senator LaToya Johnson said family members told her, "If this was a little White boy, more would be done," The Mirror reports.
Johnson also said Prince’s parents were knocking door-to-door in search of him into the night Wednesday, November 8. She said the two criminals live in the same home, but she was unsure of their relation to the family.
“They were distraught,” Johnson said of the family, adding “It was a shock. This neighborhood is relatively quiet. You don’t see a lot of police activity. We knew it was something serious.”
Johnson said the family includes two parents and three children. She had little contact with them before Wednesday, November 8, but said she had seen them walk to a corner store on occasion.
“They’ve always been respectful,” she said, adding “They’re quiet.”
Community reacts after Prince McCree's death
Meaww previously reported that the city of Milwaukee was traumatized by Prince’s death, Michael Murphy, who represents the neighborhood, said.
“It’s a terrible tragedy for the whole community to see another child so senselessly lose their life and then to be discarded in the manner in which they found the child,” he said.
"It’s sad for the family,” Johnson said, adding “He’s a five-year-old baby. They’re struggling.”
The police did not issue an Amber alert because, according to Johnson, the law enforcement did not have enough information about a suspect or a suspect vehicle.
A GoFundMe page has been created by Prince's aunt to help his family with the funeral and it has already collected over $22,000.
