A Domino’s pizza order receipt led to the arrest of a 12-year-old boy in Wisconsin who allegedly killed his adult neighbor for his guns, according to court records.
The name of the minor defendant who is charged with first-degree intentional homicide was redacted in a criminal complaint obtained by NBC News on Wednesday from the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office.
The complaint said the minor allegedly killed Brandon Felton, 34, on March 15, at Felton’s home. The boy was neighbors with Felton and the two played video games together, the complaint said.
Felton was found dead by authorities on March 18 in his home lying in a puddle of blood. An autopsy determined he was killed from a single gunshot wound to the head, the complaint said.
Felton’s cousin discovered his body after going to Felton’s home because he had not heard from him for days, the complaint said.
A receipt for a pizza delivery order was found near a spent shell casing, the complaint said.
“Police located a receipt in the living room on an end table (the same end table where the aforementioned casing was found). That receipt was for a ‘Domino’s Pizza’ order which showed an order for food was placed by ‘Brandy,’” the complaint said.
The delivery receipt listed a phone number.
A detective, according to the complaint, called the phone number on the receipt which was answered by a “young-sounding male,” the complaint said. The person who picked up the phone denied knowing someone named Brandy and hung up, the complaint said.
The child’s mother took the boy to speak with police on March 18, the complaint said. The boy said he heard about Felton’s death from his grandmother. The boy when confronted about the pizza order, said the phone was his and no one uses it or has borrowed it.
The boy’s story, according to the complaint, changed several times.
“The Defendant then continuously stated that he did not order food that night and has never ordered food from Felton’s house. He claimed he had no idea about the pizza and that Felton never used his phone to order food,” the complaint said. “The Defendant was then shown the receipt that was recovered from Felton’s residence and was asked if he knew what happened to Felton. The Defendant replied he did not know, then was told that Felton was killed. The Defendant then stated he did not know about that (despite earlier indicating that his grandma informed him about what happened to Felton).”
The boy eventually admitted he was at Felton’s home when he was killed with a friend of Felton’s who the boy said shot the victim in the back of the head, the complaint said. The boy said Felton’s friend, after shooting him, went to Felton’s bedroom and took an AR15 and a shotgun.
The boy’s mother, according to the complaint, told police her child had lied to investigators.
“He and his friends went to Felton’s residence to buy Felton’s guns. Felton was not going to sell the guns and then the Defendant and his friends went to Felton’s to take the guns,” the complaint said.
Attorney Katie Holtz who is representing the child, declined to directly comment about the case over email Wednesday.
However, when asked if the child is being tried as an adult, Holtz wrote: “In Wisconsin, any child charged with a homicide of this classification, if the child is over the age of 10, starts out being charged as an adult and then can ask the court to transfer their case back to juvenile court jurisdiction.”
Additional court records in the case indicate on Monday a $100,000 bond was set in the case.
During a search warrant for the boy’s phone, detectives discovered incriminating text messages sent on March 9, the complaint said.
“In those messages, the Defendant states that he has a ‘play,’ which Complainant knows is a slang term for a robbery. The Defendant then indicates the ‘play”’ is for a shotgun and a ‘chop’ which Complainant knows is a slang term for an AR-15 style rifle,” the complaint said.
Other text messages on March 15 from the boy’s phone said: “I’m gonna do it to Brandan” and “Or should I kill him rm,” which was a typo for right now, the affidavit said.
It was not clear Wednesday if anyone else has been charged in the case.
Felton’s relatives were not immediately reached Wednesday.
