



MILWAUKEE (WITI) -- There's been a major break in the case involving the shooting death of 13-month-old Bill Thao. The baby boy died at the hospital on December 27th after shots were fired into a duplex near 73rd and Mill. Thao and his family were visiting relatives at the home when the shooting occurred. Several arrests have been made, and police MAY have the shooter in custody. Police are connecting the dots after discovering the shots fired on December 27th were intended for a different duplex -- located right next door. Police are also looking into whether this shooting could be linked to a notorious Milwaukee gang.





Bill Thao





A Milwaukee man has been charged with drug crimes, and the charging documents filed against him show he was the intended target of the shooter that killed Bill Thao. A criminal complaint filed against this man says he lived in a home identical to the home Bill Thao was visiting when he was shot. That home is located right next door.



Family members say Bill Thao was one of five children playing downstairs in the duplex near 73rd and Mill on December 27th. Shots were fired into the home, and Bill Thao was rushed to the hospital. He died late on December 27th.



We are now learning more about the man police say was the intended target that night.



19-year-old Kwesen Sanders of Milwaukee faces two counts of conspiracy to commit the manufacture/delivery of heroin (three grams or less).



A criminal complaint filed against Sanders says he was the intended victim of the gunfire that killed Bill Thao.



Documents show the gunman who was trying to shoot Sanders for stealing his drug customers shot up the wrong house. Instead of shooting into Sanders' residence, the gunman shot into the identical duplex next door.



"I'm at a loss for words. I don't know," Chee Thao said.



Chee Thao is Bill Thao's cousin.



"They are really scared -- paranoid because it's a random shooting. Pretty paranoid most of the time and scared," Chee Thao said of the Thao family.



Search warrants uncovered by FOX6 News show Sanders was the focus of Milwaukee police long before December 27th.



A search warrant identifies Sanders with the street name "K-Money" -- a member of the "Wild 100s" street gang.



That street gang is linked to two high-profile crimes: a shooting that occurred during a robbery of the Innovative Optique store in Fox Point (a robbery suspect was shot and killed by a store employee) and a case involving a teen killed during a street robbery on the city's south side.



Sanders was also being investigated as a suspect in another shooting over the summer.



Documents show the same ammunition has been linked to nine shootings in Milwaukee occurring since April 2014.



While Sanders' past is criminal and court documents show he was the intended target of the gunman who killed Bill Thao, it is important to note Sanders is NOT the person who shot and killed Bill Thao. Police continue to look for the person responsible for Thao's death.



"Such an innocent life was taken away," Chee Thao said.



Milwaukee police have said they have multiple persons of interest in custody in connection with the shooting that killed Bill Thao -- including a man who may have been the shooter.



CLICK HERE for further coverage of the case involving Bill Thao via FOX6Now.com.



