A jury of 11 women and one man found Billy J. Ingram guilty of slaying Nayyer Rana, a Waukesha gas station employee shot and killed in May 2012 during a botched armed robbery.
The decision came after almost five hours of deliberation and five days of litigation, during which the defense tried to cast doubts about key pieces of evidence, including the murder weapon.
Ingram’s mother Janice Lang flew up from Mississippi for the trial, where she works as an elementary school teacher.
“I prayed about it,” she said. “I am a true Christian woman and I know he did not do this.”
Lang said that she sympathized with Rana’s family, having recently lost family members herself through gun violence, but she said her son was not a killer.
“I can’t say what my son does 24/7, but he is not an aggressive person,” she said. “He is very shy. You really got to say something to him to open him up.”
Lang said the state’s attempt to make an issue out of Ingram’s rap moniker “Killa B” was unfair, pointing out that such nicknames are common in rap culture.
“He didn’t kill anybody because his nickname is ‘Killa B,’” she said. “It’s just a nickname.”
Ingram was found guilty of shooting and killing Rana during a botched armed robbery in the early morning of May 29. The State was able to successfully tie a plethora of evidence to Ingram, including a .40 caliber handgun found in the apartment Ingram shared with Maxwell.
Maxwell’s coworkers testified that he was working the night of the murder and could not have left unnoticed.
Ingram was picked up a day after the murder by Brookfield Police investigating reports of a residential burglary in the 200 block of Sheffield Drive. Found in his possession was Rana’s cellphone, over $200 in cash, a .40 caliber shell casing and a black rubber glove matching the description of one found at the scene.
Ingram was also found guilty of armed robbery with use of force, possession of a firearm by a felon and possession of THC.
A sentencing date has been set for August 1.