SOUTH MILWAUKEE, WI – In a tragic turn of events, a Wisconsin Pizza Hut worker, Kavonn Ingram, has been charged with the murder of his 55-year-old manager, Alex Stengel. The motivation for the crime, authorities allege, was a $7,000 inheritance check Stengel cashed out before his brutal death.
The South Milwaukee police were alerted to a crime scene on February 5, when they found a dead body discarded in a dumpster outside Pizza Hut. Following an unsettling trail of blood led officers back to where the slaying likely took place – the eatery’s kitchen. Days before the crime, Stengel had flaunted a stack of dollar bills obtained from cashing in an inherited $7,000 check. Investigators believe the sight of the money sparked a fatal greed in Ingram.
WISN reports showed that Stengel was cruelly killed, with evidence of a gunshot wound and several slashes across his neck. The forensic findings pointed to the possibility that Stengel was murdered in the kitchen itself before his body was disposed of in a garbage bag.
Significantly, Stengel’s wallet, keys, and cellphone were not found at the site, according to reports from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Ingram’s arrest followed his appearance in surveillance tapes where he was seen dragging a garbage can from the restaurant premises to the dumpsters, around 10:30 a.m. on February 5. Ingram has been accused of crafting misleading text messages from Stengel’s phone to a regional manager and even clocking out on behalf of Stengel, in an attempt to cover up his tracks.
Currently facing a first-degree homicide charge, Ingram, if convicted, could be sentenced to lifetime imprisonment. Additionally, he has been indicted on charges of hiding a corpse as a party to a crime. He also faces charges for armed robbery and possession of a firearm by a felon.