'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 inside 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 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."

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee man pleads guilty in fatal July 2022 road rage