Six adults found dead when officers go to home for welfare check, Wisconsin cops say

Six people were found dead inside a Wisconsin home, and now police are searching for whoever is responsible.

Officers in Milwaukee were dispatched to a home for a welfare check around 3:45 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 23, when they found the bodies of four adult males and one adult female, Milwaukee Police Department Assistant Chief Paul Formolo said during a press briefing.

The chief medical examiner in Milwaukee County later said an additional male was found at the location, increasing the death toll to six.

The medical examiner identified the victims Monday as Charles Hardy, 42; Caleb Jordan, 23; Javoni Liddell, 31; Donta Williams, 44; Michelle Williams, 49; and Donald Smith, 43, WKOW reported. Donta and Michelle Williams, as well as Donald Smith, lived at the home where they were found, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.

Police said the victims appeared to have been shot, according to WITI.

“When they got there, they said the smell – the stench – was so overpowering,” Tiffany Whittington, the cousin of Michelle Williams, told WITI. “Neighbors said they had been smelling it for a few days.”

The welfare check was made when “citizens of our community had concerns about the occupants that resided there,” the assistant police chief said.

A motive in the killings and information regarding any suspects is unknown.

“This is ridiculous,” Arnitta Holliman, director of Milwaukee’s Office of Violence Prevention, said during the news briefing streamed by Fox6. “The community is tired. We are tired of seeing people’s lives snuffed out too soon in preventable situations.”

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Milwaukee Police Department at 414-935-7360.

“The murders discovered today on a residential block in the heart of our city are horrific,” Acting Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson said in a statement to WISN. “First, I offer my condolences to the families and friends of the victims. Whatever the circumstances, we must share the grief of those who have lost loved ones.”

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