Mount Pleasant haircut homicide; man sentenced to life in prison

MILWAUKEE - The man convicted in a 2021 Mount Pleasant fatal shooting that followed a disagreement about a haircut will spend the rest of his life in prison.

Tamir Williams, 35, was sentenced Friday, March 3 to life without extended supervision for the death of Andre Sandoval.

"You took a life, so figuratively you will pay for it with your life," the judge said.

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Friends and family said Sandoval was a kind, giving person. They called Williams a "cold-blooded murderer" who should spend the rest of his life in prison. 

"We still have a lot of wounds that are deep. They're open, they still hurt," said Lupe Sandoval, Andre's father. "Our main thing, our main purpose, was not only to get justice for Andre, but it was to prevent this murderer from ever leaving prison and killing someone else in cold blood."

Andre Sandoval

In August 2021, Williams cut Sandoval's hair. There was a disagreement that ended with Williams shooting and killing Sandoval. 

The judge acknowledged Williams has a mental illness, but that it did not "relieve him from culpability of murder."

When Williams' trial began in December 2022, he pleaded guilty to first-degree intentional homicide and possession of a firearm when he had been ordered by the court in a previous case not to have one.

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For Sandoval's family, justice was served.

"It's gonna take a minute to process this, but what I can say right now – all I can say is we did it. We got justice for (Andre) and he's up there happy," said Maria Sandoval, Andre's mother. 

In court, Sandoval's family and friends wore red t-shirts that read "LLA" – abbreviated for "Live Like Andre." They said it means to always be kind.