On a tragic Wednesday afternoon in Milwaukee, the life of 49-year-old Ladda Donsanouphith was cut short in an act of violence. On July 20, 2022, police responded to a shooting at approximately 2:15 p.m. on the 3400 block of W. National Avenue. There, they discovered Donsanouphith, a female of Laotian ethnicity, who had sustained multiple gunshot wounds to her head.
She was pronounced dead at the scene.
The investigation quickly identified a suspect, 62-year-old Bounlanh Souvannasane, who was described as Donsanouphith's ex-boyfriend. The relationship between the two was of a domestic nature. Later that same day, as law enforcement closed in on him at a location on the 1000 block of N. 26th Street, Souvannasane took his own life with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. He was transported to Froedtert Memorial Lutheran Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 5:57 p.m., bringing a grim conclusion to the murder-suicide case.
Ladda Donsanouphith was a single mother to three sons. Friends and community members remembered her as a very friendly person who brought laughter and smiles to those around her, particularly within the local Laotian community. Her death was part of a distressing spike in domestic violence fatalities in Milwaukee County, which saw six women killed in such circumstances over a two-week period.
