An 18-year-old man pleaded guilty in a Milwaukee courtroom Monday morning to killing 5-year-old Prince McCree, ending years of legal proceedings in a case that sparked statewide legislative changes.Prince's disappearance and dea th led to a new state law, the "Prince Act," which addresses gaps in Wisconsin's Amber Alert system."Whenever you're favoring the interest of the child and safety, we have to go in that direction," said Stephanie van Iersel, a Milwaukee mother who lives in Prince's neighborhood. The tragedy that struck the Milwaukee community in 2023 exposed critical flaws in the state's missing child alert system. Prince was found in a dumpster in an alley one day after he was reported missing.His case didn't qualify for an Amber Alert because no suspect description was available."It hit home because it was so close by," van Iersel said. "And there's so many kids in this area."Watch: 17 missing child alerts issued in states first year of the Prince Act 17 missing child alerts issued in states first year of the Prince ActVan Iersel remembers when her neighborhood turned into a crime scene as everyone searched for the missing kindergartener."It was really sad. I think I even tried to avoid that little corner myself because it just struck a lot of feelings," she said. State Senator LaTonya Johnson, who lived just five houses down from Prince, witnessed the family's frustration firsthand."I saw the frustration from his family when they were waiting for an Amber Alert to be issued, and one never came," Johnson said. An Amber Alert was not issued for Prince because no suspect or suspect vehicle description was available. That's one of the main criteria to trigger an Amber Alert, in addition to the missing person being 17 or younger and in danger of serious harm or death.Frustrated that Prince couldn't be included, Johnson introduced a bill in 2024 to ensure other children don't slip through the cracks.Now, any child under the age of 18 with a disability sparks a missing child alert, and the same goes for all children 10 years old or younger. This means all cell phones within five miles of where the missing child was last seen receive a notification.In its first year, the state's Department of Justice says it issued 17 missing child alerts."I want this missing child alert to apply to as many children as possible," Johnson said.As a parent and elementary school teacher, van Iersel supports any plan that would help communities find children who disappear. "Why would we not want more people to know about this instantly when this happens, because that's when we could have made a difference? People could have been on alert," she said.This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.Its about time to watch on your time. Stream local news and weather 24/7 by searching for TMJ4 on your device.Available for download on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and more.Report a typo or error // Submit a news tip ...read more read less