Charles J. Leggett shoots Milwaukee liquor store cashier, Jamil I. Owais dead cause pizza was made without gloves. Victim was Palestinian immigrant and new father and had momentarily taken over while his brother ran an errand.
A Milwaukee man is alleged to have gunned down a liquor store worker after taking exception to the way his pizza was being made.
Charles J. Leggett, 38, is accused of shooting dead, Jamil I. Owais, 26 on October 19 after Leggett, identified as the customer, took exception with a pizza he had momentarily ordered at ‘Action Food and Liquor’ being made without gloves.
At the time, Leggett had demanded that Owais, who was working as the cashier to ask the worker in the kitchen to start all over again and make a new pizza, insisting the kitchen hand use gloves.
Suspect admits gunning down cashier after rebuffing him
Owais is alleged to have rebuffed Leggett who then became incensed, gunning down the cash register worker.
Surveillance footage from inside the store showed Leggett arguing with Owais just on 11.50am before pulling out a 9mm Ruger gun and firing a single shot into Owais’ chest, WISN reported.
Police said another employee heard the fight and the gunshot and called 911 after finding Owais unconscious behind the counter, WDJT reported. Owais died at the scene, according to the outlet.
Upon gunning down Owais, Leggett fled the scene after the shooting. Police tracked down the car the suspect had traveled in with a woman, by searching license plate reader cameras, and arrested Leggett at an apartment on West Juneau Avenue. They found the gun in the apartment, along with matching the shoes he appeared to wear in the store to those found in the car.
During police questioning, Leggett admitted to fatally shooting the liquor store worker, saying, ‘I shot him.’
Leggett also said he did not see whether Owais had a gun, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.
‘The Defendant informed Owies it was unsanitary, then Owies became loud with the Defendant and said he would do something to the Defendant,’ police wrote according to a probable cause affidavit. ‘[Police] asked the Defendant what he did, and the Defendant replied ‘I shot him.’ The Defendant stated he only shot one time, then ran out of the store and drove to a friends house and did not tell anyone what happened. He indicated he threw the clothes he was wearing out.’
Victim was Palestinian immigrant and new father
Mohammad Owais, owner of Action Food and Liquor, told WISN his brother Jamil was watching the store for him ‘for half an hour’ while he ran errands.
‘To take someone’s life for no reason – that is unacceptable,’ Mohammad told media.
According to the sibling, Jamil was a new father, with both brothers Palestinian immigrants who had settled in the United States ‘for a better life.’
The store worker who had prepared the suspect’s pizza told WISN that he was in fact wearing gloves while making the customer’s pizza.
Leggett following his arrest was charged with charged with reckless homicide and use of a dangerous weapon along with possessing a firearm as an out-of-state felon, court records show.
If convicted of the reckless homicide charge, Leggett faces up to 65 years in prison. If convicted of possessing a gun as a felon, Leggett faces up to 10 years in prison and a fine of $25,000.
Of note, Leggett was convicted of manufacturing or delivering heroin in 2006 in Illinois, a felony.
He remains held on on a $200,000 cash bond and is due back in court for a preliminary hearing Oct. 31.