A Milwaukee man will spend most of the rest of his life in federal prison for murdering a letter carrier who was delivering mail on the city's northwest side nearly four years ago.
U.S. District Chief Judge Pamela Pepper sentenced Kevin McCaa, 40, on Oct. 14 to 38 years in prison, followed by five years of supervised release. McCaa pleaded guilty in July to second-degree murder of a U.S. Postal Service employee and discharging a firearm during a crime of violence.
The victim, Aundre Cross, 44, had carried mail for the U.S. Postal Service for 18 years. He was shot in the head on Dec. 9, 2022, while delivering mail in the 5000 block of North 65th Street.
Prosecutors said McCaa and Charles Ducksworth Jr. watched Cross for more than 30 minutes before the shooting because they believed he had stolen a package of drugs from them. Afterward, they threw the gun into a creek, changed their phone numbers, and got rid of their clothing. Both men were arrested on Dec. 27, 2022, and have been in federal custody since.
At the sentencing hearing, Judge Pepper called the killing premeditated and incomprehensible, and credited old-fashioned investigative work — phone records, license plate readers, and surveillance video from homes and businesses — with solving the case. Cross's children wrote letters to the judge about losing their father.
Ducksworth pleaded guilty to the same charges and is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 18. Two other people were charged in connection with the case, accused of lying to investigators and failing to come forward about the crime.
