Milwaukee gas station shooting, security guard pleads not guilty

MILWAUKEE - A Milwaukee man pleaded not guilty Tuesday, Sept. 12 to first-degree intentional homicide for a gas station shooting on the city's north side. 

William Pinkin, 56, was supposed to appear for his preliminary hearing in August – the first step toward a trial. But because Pinkin did not have an attorney, the hearing was put on hold at that time. He was bound over for trial after Tuesday's hearing.

Investigators said Pinkin turned himself in two days after the Aug. 16 shooting. The complaint states 29-year-old Isaiah Allen grabbed a box of Little Debbie snack cakes and left without paying, and a security guard – later identified as Pinkin – got up from the back of the store, walked toward Allen and pulled out a gun.

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Pinkin then rushed toward Allen, per the complaint, and got a little more than an arm's length from him before shooting Allen in the back of the head. Allen dropped to the ground, and surveillance showed Pinkin go back inside the store.

According to the complaint, Pinkin was at the scene when police arrived and told responding officers – who were unaware of the surveillance video at the time – that he did not see the shooting. That surveillance video showed Pinkin was "milling around calmly" and at one point smoking a cigarette after the shooting.

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Prosecutors said it's not Pinkin's first run-in with the law. Pinkin was convicted of first-degree reckless homicide in 1990, prosecutors said. He was released in 2018 but went back to prison in 2019. Officials confirm he was released in March of this year.

Allen's family told FOX6 News that he suffered from mental health issues. 

Pinkin remains jailed on $250,000 cash bond.