Charges filed in slaying at Waukesha gas station
.jpg)
Waukesha - The suspect being held in the shooting death late last month of a Waukesha gas station clerk was charged Tuesday with first-degree intentional homicide, armed robbery with use of force, possession of a firearm by a felon and possession of marijuana.
Billy J. Ingram, 20, of Waukesha was on probation for burglary when he was arrested May 30, one day after the killing of Nayyer M. Rana, 56, at the Broadway Petro Mart.
Court Commissioner Laura Lau ordered Ingram held on $1 million bail during his initial court appearance Tuesday.
Rana was shot sometime before 4:19 a.m. May 29, and his body was discovered by a customer. The customer told police he opened the door to the store but did not enter after he saw Rana on his back in a pool of blood and blood coming from his mouth, court records say.
Although Ingram was arrested last month, authorities were able to detain him without charging him in the killing because he had violated the terms of his probation.
Ingram was taken into custody about 2 a.m. May 30 by Brookfield and Elm Grove police, who had questioned him after they found him in the area of Blue Mound and Sunnyslope roads as they were searching for a burglary suspect.
About 20 minutes earlier, an Elm Grove officer had found a red duffel bag and black backpack at a bus stop on Blue Mound in Elm Grove.
Ingram admitted the red bag was his but said he did not know who the black bag belonged to, court records state. But officers found credit card receipts for Ingram in the black bag as well as Rana's phone, keys, and other items believed taken in the robbery, records show.
A search of Ingram's Waukesha apartment after his arrest turned up a loaded .40-caliber Smith & Wesson handgun, a box of bullets that are the same brand as the shell casings found at the station, a loaded handgun magazine and clothing that appeared to have bloodstains, according to court records.
The gun belonged to a man who shared the apartment with Ingram, and it was purchased legally from the Gander Mountain store, 2440 E. Moreland Blvd., Waukesha, on May 12, according to a criminal complaint filed in the case. The complaint also said a bullet recovered from the victim was fired from the gun.
Police also seized bloodstained cash.
Rana was shot once in the abdomen, once in the upper-right chest area and once in the mouth, according to the complaint, which cited a medical examiner's report.
Investigators recovered a long, black hair at the crime scene and have taken from Ingram DNA and hair samples to compare them against evidence from the crime scene and items recovered from Ingram and his residence, the records say.
The owner of the Broadway Petro Mart told police it appeared $985 in currency and coins, cigarettes, cigars, including Swisher Sweets, glass smoking pipes and Hostess snack cakes with distinctive orange pricing stickers were taken during the robbery.
Police found cigarettes, Swisher Sweets and other cigars and a glass smoking pipe in the black bag that contained Ingram's credit card receipts, the affidavits state. Ingram also had Hostess snack cakes with him, the records state.
Records indicate that at the time of Ingram's arrest, a warrant had been issued against him for probation violation. Court records show that Ingram was on probation for a Milwaukee County burglary he committed in August 2010 and was convicted of in June 2011.
Ingram is scheduled to appear again in court Friday for a hearing. If convicted of the homicide charge, he faces life in prison.
Jesse Garza of the Journal Sentinel staff contributed to this report.
