A 15-year-old Waukesha boy was charged Tuesday, Feb. 11, with attempted first-degree intentional homicide in Waukesha County Circuit Court.
Zakaria M. Alhasasneh is allegedly an accomplice of Alonso Corral, a one-handed Waukesha man also charged last week with attempted homicide in connection with the Wednesday, Feb. 5, shooting in the 2000 block of Kensington Drive.
Corral faces new charges of possession of a firearm by a felon, possession of narcotic drugs, three counts of first-degree reckless endangerment with a dangerous weapon, endangering safety by reckless use of a firearm, and two counts of misdemeanor bail jumping.
Corral, 24, could effectively face life in prison and more than $150,000 in fines if convicted. Alhasasneh could face 60 years in prison if convicted.
According to an article in the Lake Country Reporter, Corral lost his right hand in September 2012 while employed as a machinist for Nature's Path, a Sussex-based cereal packaging company. The article states he was attempting to clear a jam in a flaker machine when his hand got caught in the rollers. It took about an hour for firefighters and maintenance personnel from the nearby Quad/Graphics printing plant to free his arm from the equipment.
Corral, 1470 Cleveland Ave., was charged last November with possession of an illegally obtained a prescription, retail theft and resisting arrest. He was released Nov. 5 on a $1,000 signature bond on the condition that he not commit any further crimes.
Alhasasneh, 2010 Coronado St., was a student at Learning Center West, run by CESA in Waukesha.
Law requires adult charges
District Attorney Brad Schimel said that, under the law, Alhasasneh had to be charged as an adult.
"The juvenile court has no jurisdiction over [first-degree intentional attempted homicide], unless the adult court determines that a reverse waiver back to juvenile court is appropriate," he said.
Schimel said he could not recall the last time a juvenile was charged in adult court with homicide or attempted homicide. He said it was unlikely that the adult court would refer the matter back to juvenile court, citing the allegations of gang involvement and the aggravated nature of the crime.
Shots fired Feb. 5
According to the criminal complaint, Waukesha City Police were dispatched at about 4 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 5, to the Kensington Apartments, 2107 Kensington Drive, after receiving reports of shots fired.
Police located two shell casings but no witnesses; the victims of the shooting had already sped off from the scene and arrived at the police station, the complaint states.
Damian Jimenez told police Corral had fired two shots into his van, which was occupied by him, his two children and the likely target, John Brautigam, the complaint said.
Brautigam said he felt one of the bullets fly past his ear. A police specialist that searched the vehicle noted in the complaint that if Brautigam were sitting upright, he'd likely be dead or seriously injured.
Brautigam told police that Jimenez stopped the vehicle at one point after the shooting and began frantically searching his children, ages 5 and 8, for gunshot wounds, according to the complaint.
Several witnesses to the daytime shooting spoke to police in the following days, reported hearing shots and seeing people fleeing the scene.
A 17-year-old boy told police that he heard a "bang, echo, pause, bang, and another echo," at about 3:50 p.m. on the day in question, the complaint said. He looked out a balcony window and saw a Hispanic male flee the scene and disappear into a building across the street from the shooting.
Nick Thomas, a 16-year Army veteran, heard the gunfire and chased Jimenez's van as it fled the scene, assuming it contained the shooter and not the victims, the complaint states.
Edward King was sitting in his living room when he heard the gunshots. He said he saw two men, dressed in a similar fashion, running toward 1813 Kensington Drive.
According to the complaint, police at the scene of the shooting followed two sets of footprints to an apartment at 1813 Kensington Drive. Inside were Dora Rocha and Gricelda Rocha, who allowed police to search the residence.
Police recovered from the apartment several bags of heroin, about two ounces of marijuana and numerous items of matching clothing, including black-and-yellow hooded sweatshirts, sweatpants, baseball hats and two pairs of shoes, the complaint states.
Dora Rocha, allegedly a former girlfriend of Corral, told police in the complaint she had not seen him since the previous evening. She said the drugs were not there when she left the apartment in the morning.
'I think that is for us'
A State Patrol officer stopped a vehicle in which Corral was a passenger at about 2:20 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 6, as he drove on I-94 near the 35th Street interchange.
Police searched for Corral over the course of the night and learned that he might be at the Wildwood Lodge, N14 W24121 Tower Place, Pewaukee, the complaint states.
Police were going to bringing resources to bear on the lodge at about 2:20 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 6, when a detective said he spotted Corral leaving in a gray vehicle, the complaint states.
The vehicle entered onto the highway, according to the complaint, but was stopped a short time later by a State Patrol officer on I-94 east near the 35th Street interchange.
Four people were pulled from the vehicle, including Corral and Esmeralda Rocha. Brautigam had told police earlier that he was at the Kensington Drive apartments to visit Esmeralda Rocha.
She told police that Corral's name was Sau Nevares, but he was identified by officers based on his missing hand and placed under arrest.
Maurice Carter, the driver, said in the complaint he had no idea Corral was being sought by police, and when he was stopped by multiple squad cars, Corral and Esmeralda Rocha said: "I think that is for us."
Esmeralda Rocha told police she had known Brautigam for about eight years and that they used heroin together, the complaint said.
"She explained that [Brautigam] had a habit of just showing up by people's house and trying to get them to give him drugs," the complaint states.
She told police that is what happened on Feb. 5, but claimed she never saw Brautigam, the complaint states.
She said she learned what happened Feb. 5 after the fact and called Corral, who said he was at the Wildwood Lodge in Pewaukee with Miguel Sanchez and Alhasasneh.
But Sanchez refuted her statement. He said in the complaint that he had known Corral for about 12 years, back from when Corral tried to recruit him into the Latin Kings. The day of the shooting he arrived at the Rocha residence on Kensington and saw that Alhasasneh and Corral were dressed the same, wearing yellow pants and black jackets, he said in the complaint.
After Jimenez honked his horn outside, Alhasasneh said, "We are going to go get that n----," Sanchez told police.
Esmeralda Rocha and Sanchez fled the house after shots were fired and later picked up Corral and Alhasasneh at Coronado Street, about 4 miles from the scene of the crime. They drove to the lodge, where Alhasasneh was picked up by his mother, the complaint said.
Corral was hospitalized after his arrest, and received treatment for serious withdrawal symptoms.
Esmeralda Rocha denied luring Brautigam to the apartment so that he could be shot, the complaint states.
Corral was transported to Waukesha Memorial Hospital after his arrest to be treated for serious withdrawal symptoms.
Corral told police that he started using heroin about six months after he lost his hand. In a statement, Corral said that Alhasasneh was the shooter. Corral said he could not shoot a gun because he had lost his hand in an industrial accident in 2012.
Alhasasneh was pulled from class on the afternoon of Friday, Feb. 7 and taken to the police station for questioning.
Changing statement
Alhasasneh was taken to the police station for questioning on Feb. 7. His statement changed several times over the following days, according to the complaint.
He said that he lived with Corral several days a week at his house at 1470 Cleveland Ave. because he does not get along with his mother and brother. He said that he bought the "strap" used in the shooting a few weeks earlier and kept it hidden in a drawer at the Rocha residence., from a guy he knew who sold him marijuana. He kept it hidden in a drawer at the Rocha residence.
He initially told police that Corral had been the shooter, but the next day told police he himself did it. After further questioning, he again said it was Corral who fired the gun, the complaint states.
He said Brautigam had been talking about robbing people, and may have robbed a gang member's house, according to the complaint. Alhasasneh said in the complaint that he believed that shooting at Brautigam, even if he missed, might be enough to get him into "the gang," though which gang ion is unclear.
Alhasasneh said that Corral was not supposed to be the shooter; it was his job to do the shooting, but Corral took the gun from him and fired the shots, according to the complaint.
Alhasasneh's mother said in the complaint her son had told her that Corral was the shooter. She told police she did not know where the gun went.
Corral is being held in Waukesha County Jail on a $500,000 cash bail. He is next expected to appear in court on Thursday, Feb. 13.
Alhasasneh is being held on a $250,000 cash bail. He is expected to appear at a preliminary hearing on Friday, Feb. 21.