South Milwaukee Pizza Hut homicide, man accused pleads not guilty

SOUTH MILWAUKEE, Wis. - A Milwaukee man accused after a body was found outside a South Milwaukee Pizza Hut pleaded not guilty on Friday, Feb. 23 and was bound over for trial.

Prosecutors charged 31-year-old Kavonn Ingram with first-degree intentional homicide, hiding a corpse, armed robbery and possession of a firearm by a felon. 

The victim, 55-year-old Alexander Stengel, was a longtime manager at the Pizza Hut – where Ingram also worked. But in regard to motive, court filings said Stengel had just received a $7,000 inheritance check.

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Victim found

South Milwaukee police were called to the Pizza Hut on Chicago Avenue after a garbage truck driver said there was a garbage can behind the dumpsters that looked like it had a body in it, according to a criminal complaint.

An officer walked over to the dumpster, per the complaint, and found a 55-gallon trash can on wheels. He saw what appeared to be a semi-transparent plastic bag over the top of the garbage can – and feet and legs sticking out of he can beneath the plastic bag. The officer also saw a pool of blood beneath the garbage can.

The complaint states investigators found what appeared to be dried blood that lead from the dumpster to the Pizza Hit. The blood trail continued through a door and into the restaurant's kitchen, leading police to believe the victim – since identified as Stengel – was killed inside the restaurant, put into the wheeled garbage can and left behind the dumpster.

During a check of the victim’s pockets, the complaint states officers determined the victim’s wallet, keys and cellphone appeared to be missing. 

Scene inside

Based on the trail of blood between the dumpster area and the restaurant, the South Milwaukee Police Department obtained a search warrant for the Pizza Hut. An investigator said the vast majority of the restaurant appeared dirty, including clearly greasy kitchen floors. However, a portion of the tiled kitchen floor just past the front counter into the kitchen appeared uncharacteristically clean when compared to the rest of the floor, the complaint states. It appeared that that particular area had been cleaned, but not the rest of the floor.

Likewise, toward the rear of the kitchen area was a set of double metal doors. The complaint states the left door was grimy, while the right door appeared clean. The investigator observed cleaning product spray droplets all around the right edge of the clean door.

Both of these areas appeared to have been recently cleaned when compared to the rest of the kitchen area.

In the far back area of the kitchen, an investigator found a small utility closet. The non-hinged side of door had what appeared to be blood on it, per the complaint, and was tested with a phenolphthalein test and presumptively tested positive for blood. Within the closet was a slop sink on the floor, which appeared to be used for mop buckets. There were several pieces of what appeared to be coagulated blood on the bottom of the slop sink. The mop in the closet had what appeared to be bloody hand prints on the handle. The light switch for the closet had what appeared to be a blood smear on it. Lastly, the fabric mop head also had blood on it.

Autopsy

The Milwaukee County Medical Examiner’s Office determined the victim was shot in the head, according to the complaint. There was also soot around the wound, consistent with a contact wound to the head.

Additionally, the complaint states the victim had a cut across his throat that did not appear to completely cut through the skin. The victim suffered two puncture wounds below the cut as well. Two additional puncture wounds caused by blunt force trauma were found on the victim's head – causing a skull fracture.

The medical examiner deemed the manner of death was homicide.

Surveillance video

South Milwaukee police investigators collectively reviewed security video from a Taco Bell located north of the Pizza Hut, which had a camera that captured the area behind Pizza Hut leading to the dumpster area.

The complaint states security video showed on Feb. 5 at 10:25 a.m. – two days before the victim was found – a suspect dragging a garbage can from the area of the Pizza Hut toward the area of the dumpster. On the video, the suspect appeared to be struggling to pull the garbage can, as though it contained a heavy object. In the video, the garbage can appeared consistent with the garbage can the victim’s body was found in days later. The path taken by the suspect in the video was also consistent with the path of blood droplets seen by investigators at the scene, police said.

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At 10:26 a.m., the suspect wearing black clothing can be seen returning to the area of Pizza Hut from the area of the dumpster crib. The suspect is no longer dragging a garbage can. The complainant states that this is consistent with this suspect dragging the can containing the victim’s body to the crib and leaving it there before returning to the Pizza Hut.

The investigator has watched the security video from Taco Bell that covers this same area from the time the can containing the victim’s body was dragged to the dumpster crib on Feb. 5, until the time police arrived on Feb. 7. At no point in the video does it capture anyone else dragging this garbage can to or from the crib area.

Pizza Hut records

The Pizza Hut's regional manager said Stengel was a longtime employee and emailed several computer records to the South Milwaukee Police Department.

According to the complaint, those computer records showed the victim clocked in for work at the Pizza Hut at 9:30 a.m. on Feb. 5 and prepped the register at 9:56 a.m. The records then showed the register was opened at 10:09 a.m., which the regional manager stated was unusual because there would not have been any reason to open the register since there had not been a sale.

The regional manager also said the computer records showed that the victim clocked out of work at 10:50 a.m., per the complaint, which was roughly 25 minutes after the suspect was seen dragging the garbage can from the Pizza Hut to the dumpster.

Investigators determined the suspect logged the victim out of the Pizza Hut computer after the victim had been killed and his body was hidden in the garbage can near the dumpster. Per the complaint, that was also consistent with the suspect being familiar with the Pizza Hut computer and time management systems – leading them to believe the suspect was also an employee.

The regional manager also stated that on Feb. 3, while at work, the victim had shown a large roll of cash to several employees. The complaint states Ingram was identified as one of the employees that knew the victim had a large amount of money. An independent investigation revealed the victim had cashed an inheritance check just before heading to work that day. The complainant states that it is likely that the victim had the $7,000 from that check while at work that day.

The regional manager notes that the victim was supposed to work on Feb. 6, but did not show up to work. This is consistent with the victim being killed before 10:25 a.m. on Feb. 5 inside the Pizza Hut, and then being placed in the garbage can, which video shows was then transported to the back lot where it was later found in the dumpster crib.

The Pizza Hut's general manager said the victim was scheduled to work at Pizza Hut on Feb. 5. The complaint states the manager stated that she was home watching TV when she received a text from the victim’s phone in which the text message stated: "Had a brain fart, what's the door code again? Left my keys in the store." A review of the manager's cellphone confirmed the text message came around 10:28 a.m. – roughly three minutes after the garbage can was seen being dragged to the dumpster.

The manager stated that she then received a phone call from the victim’s phone, per the complaint. Her cellphone showed the call came at 10:29 a.m. She said that she thought it was the victim, but noted that the phone was muffled and it sounded windy. She received another text message from the victim’s cellphone at 11:07 a.m., which read:

"Been here since 8:30. I'm still feeling nauseous after throwing up 3 times. The last time I even threw up a lil blood. Tried to smoke a cigarette to ease my stomach, but still sweating like a pig. It seems like I keep getting worse so I'm heading out. Already clocked out. Did what I could, but I need to get checked out or something."

The complaint noted the text message came in after the garbage can with the victim’s body was dragged to where it was hidden. Investigators determined the text message was used to explain the victim’s absence without alarm and, when combined with the logging out of the computer, showed the suspect was familiar with Pizza Hut procedures and the individual workers.

Identifying Ingram

In addition to the Taco Bell surveillance, South Milwaukee police reviewed security video from a Milwaukee County Transit Bus that showed the bus stop near Chicago and College avenues. The complaint states the suspect who left the garbage can near the dumpster was seen crossing to that bus stop.

At about 11:05 a.m. – which the complaint states is consistent with the time the suspect could be seen leaving Pizza Hut – the suspect crossed to the bus stop and got on the bus, sitting in the second row behind the rear door on the passenger side. Investigators noted what the suspect was wearing, and also that he pulled a cellphone from his pocket.

At 11:07 a.m., the complaint states the suspect can still be seen looking at what appears to be the phone and sending a text message. The time was consistent with the text message sent from the victim’s phone to the general manager.

The suspect stayed on the bus until 11:45 a.m. and got off near Water and Juneau in downtown Milwaukee.

Based on the MCTS video, as well as other videos, police tried to determine how the suspect got to the Pizza Hut on Feb. 5. In reviewing security video from a Wendy’s on Chicago Avenue, police found a security camera that had a clear and unobstructed view of the bus stop at Chicago and Badger avenues. It showed an MCTS bus pull up around 8:26 a.m. that day. The complaint states the video showed the suspect – dressed in the same wardrobe as in the other videos – walk from that bus stop toward the Pizza Hut.

A South Milwaukee police officer who reviewed MCTS bus video showed the same suspect in the same clothing get on a bus near Holton and North around 7:44 a.m. that day – but the suspect did not have a mask on at that point, unlike in the other videos. A still photo of that suspect was shown to Pizza Hut management, who identified the suspect as Ingram.

Cell tower mapping

South Milwaukee police were able to obtain both Ingram and Stengel's cellphone numbers from Pizza Hut employee records. The complaint states cellphone records for both numbers were obtained via a search warrant and turned over to a special agent who is trained and experienced in mapping cellphone locations based upon tower data.

The agent stated, per the complaint, that the cellphone records for Ingram's phone were consistent with his phone traveling to the Pizza Hut by approximately 8:30 a.m. on Feb. 5 – consistent with the bus video which showed him traveling to the area by approximately 8:26 a.m.

He further states that the phone records for both the defendant’s phone and the victim’s phone are consistent with both phones being in the area of the Pizza Hut from approximately 8:30 a.m. to 10:53 a.m.

The records for both the defendant’s phone and the victim’s phone then have records consistent with traveling northbound from the area of the Pizza Hut from approximately 11:02 a.m. to 11:09 a.m. There is no further location information for the victim’s phone after 11:09 a.m. This is consistent with the bus video which shows the suspect consistent with the defendant traveling northbound on a bus at this time, as well as manipulating a cell phone consistent with the victim’s cell phone until approximately 11:09 a.m. when that manipulation stops.

The cellphone records for the defendant’s phone continue northbound from 11:11 a.m. to 12:36 p.m. consistent with bus video and security video from downtown Milwaukee, which shows the suspect consistent with the defendant in that area.

This is consistent with the defendant being the suspect on the Taco Bell video that drags the garbage can containing the victim’s body, taking the victim’s cell phone, and taking it with him on bus back to Milwaukee, while placing one last text message to the general manager while the defendant is on the bus. This is consistent with the defendant being the individual that killed the victim inside the Pizza Hut and knew how to log the victim out and text a reason for his disappearance to the manager. Thus, this is consistent with the defendant killing the victim, stealing his wallet and phone, and hiding his body in a garbage can.

Ingram's arrest

On Feb. 9, South Milwaukee police obtained a search warrant to obtain location data for the defendant’s phone number. Location data starting Feb. 10, 2024, showed the defendant in the area near Meinecke and Dr. William Finlayson Street in Milwaukee, which has a rear cottage.

The South Milwaukee Police Department and the Milwaukee Police Department then began surveillance on the residence. On Feb. 11, a police officer conducting surveillance on the residences, at 9 a.m. observed an African American male walking towards the front of the residence. He determined that this was consistent with this male leaving from the back cottage. The male was wearing a black/gray hat with ear flaps. Police then drove past the subject and positively identified the male as the defendant.

Using surveillance and location data, the defendant was tracked to an area near Kinnickinnic and Hillcrest, where he was arrested. Police seized the defendant’s black/gray winter hat with ear flaps which appeared to the same hat the defendant was wearing on video on the day of the homicide.

Search of Ingram's home

The complaint is further based upon the statement of investigators and police officers who executed a search warrant at the defendant’s home after he was arrested.

Upon arrival, officers knocked on the door and announced the police presence. It was determined that the defendant’s girlfriend and her daughter answered. Upon being read the warrant, the girlfriend immediately asked "Is this about Alex?" and "It’s about Alex, isn’t it." She stated that the defendant told her that the victim had been found "with nothing on his person", which the complainant notes is a fact not released to the public or to any witness interviewed by police. She was then shown a still photo of the suspect on the bus leaving Pizza Hut after the homicide and identified the suspect as the defendant and identified the clothing, hat, and backpack as items belonging to the defendant.

She also indicated that the defendant told her that the victim had told the defendant of a large settlement the victim was going to get. She stated that she asked the defendant "If there’s a gunshot, don’t you think the Taco Bell people or something would have heard it or whatever? And the defendant stated: "the head works as a silencer. So if you and him are in the back of the store, and you gun is to his head, and you shoot him in the head, it works as a silencer, and no one is gonna hear it."

In the bathroom, officers observed red/brown stains in the bathroom sink. Also in the bathroom, officers recovered a white towel with red/brown stains on it believed to be blood.

In the bedroom, officers recovered a pillowcase that had what appeared to be a blood stain on it.

In the living room of the defendant’s residence, a red and black backpack that contained a Taurus G2C 9mm handgun containing three unfired FMJ 9mm cartridges was recovered. In that same backpack was a check from Pizza Hut in the name of the defendant.

Prior criminal record

Review of CCAP records which show that the defendant was convicted on Jun. 6, 2016 of the felony offense of attempted possession of cocaine with intent to deliver in Racine County. The conviction remains of record and unreversed.