12-year-old in Milwaukee charged with killing a man to steal his guns. Police say a pizza receipt led to the arrest
By Andy Rose and Paradise Afshar, CNN
A 12-year-old boy in Milwaukee was charged with first-degree intentional homicide after being accused of killing a man to steal his guns, court records show.
The boy, who is not named because of his age, allegedly carried out the fatal shooting of 34-year-old Brandon Felton inside of a Milwaukee home on March 15 because Felton refused to sell weapons to the child, according to police.
If convicted, the child faces a sentence of life in prison. The public defender had no comment or statement at this time.
Police tied the boy to the shooting after they found a pizza receipt from the night of the killing that had been ordered using the child’s cell phone, according to a criminal complaint.
Additionally, the child gave a series of inconsistent statements to police before acknowledging he was at the home at the time of the killing, but said he was there to play video games and blamed the homicide on someone else, investigators said.
Police pointed to text messages obtained from the boy’s phone using a search warrant that showed him making plans with two other people to steal the guns, according to the complaint.
On the day of the killing, a text from the defendant’s phone said, “I’m gonna do it to Brandan [sic],” the court document stated.
The text conversation shows the defendant later said he had a gun and asked, “should I kill him (right now)?,” the complaint said. Another person in the conversation replied, “Noooo,” but the defendant allegedly replied, “I’m belting him don’t got time for dude going after my family,” the documents show.
Later, the boy allegedly confessed to his mother that he had lied to police and intended to take Felton’s guns because he wouldn’t sell them, police said.
During an initial court appearance Monday, the child’s bond was set at $100,000. A preliminary hearing is scheduled on April 4, according to court records.
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