Three charged in fatal shooting of USPS mail carrier

Three people have been charged in federal court in connection with the fatal shooting of U.S. Postal Service employee Aundre Cross, federal prosecutors in Milwaukee announced Thursday.

Cross, 44, was delivering mail in Milwaukee on Dec. 9 when he was shot and killed.

Kevin McCaa, 36, and Charles Ducksworth Jr., 26, are accused of shooting and killing the mail carrier, and Shanelle McCoy, 34, is accused of providing false statements to law enforcement, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.

According to the criminal complaint, surveillance videos showed two suspects following Cross for about an hour on Dec. 9. After exiting a vehicle without license plates, someone approached Cross from behind, and a gunshot is heard.

The vehicle belonged to McCoy. She told law enforcement that she was using the vehicle at the time of the shooting to make DoorDash deliveries. However, investigators found footage of McCoy using a different vehicle _ one that belonged to Ducksworth _ at that time to make deliveries, and switching back to her own vehicle later.

It was not clear why Cross was shot. He had worked for the USPS for 18 years. A former co- worker said he had four children, and others remembered him for his positive attitude.

U.S. Attorney Gregory Haanstad said the police worked with the FBI, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and other federal, state and local partners to deliver the charges.

“If you harm one of our employees, we will find you and put you behind bars,” Kai Pickens, the acting inspector-in-charge of the Chicago Division U.S. Postal Inspection Service, said in a statement.

Ducksworth’s attorney, Robert LeBell, said he’ll know more about the case after prosecutors turn over evidence to him but promised to defend Ducksworth as “vigorously as possible to make sure his innocence is protected.”