A Wisconsin man will spend the rest of his life behind bars after a jury found him guilty of killing a 26-year-old store clerk during an argument over a pizza order.
Charles J. Leggett, 39, was convicted Wednesday by a Milwaukee County jury of first-degree intentional homicide with a dangerous weapon and of being a felon in possession of a firearm in the shooting death of Jamil I. Owies. Jurors deliberated for less than half an hour before returning the guilty verdicts, according to court documents.
Owies, a cashier at Action Food and Liquor on North Dr. Martin Luther King Drive, had recently celebrated the birth of his first child before his life was cut short. Leggett is scheduled to be sentenced on December 17 before Circuit Judge David L. Borowski and faces a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment.
The fatal shooting occurred around 11:50 a.m. on October 19, 2024. Police were called to the store after witnesses reported hearing a gunshot and seeing Owies collapse behind the counter. Responding officers found the victim unresponsive with a gunshot wound to the chest. Despite attempts by first responders to save him, Owies was pronounced dead at the scene.
According to a store employee, Owies had just told him about a pizza order before the confrontation began. The witness said Leggett went to the back of the store, appearing agitated, before returning to the counter where an argument erupted. Moments later, the employee heard a gunshot and found Owies “on the ground gasping for air.”
Surveillance footage captured the entire encounter. Police said the video “was of high quality” and clearly showed the shooter’s face. “Though the video does not have audio, it is apparent the shooter is upset, and begins to motion his hands at Owies,” investigators wrote in the affidavit. “Owies appears to argue back, and then the shooter reaches his hand into his right pocket where the handle of a handgun can be seen protruding… The shooter puts the gun to Owies’ chest, shooting Owies, and then quickly runs out of the store.”
Leggett was arrested soon after. During a post-Miranda interview, he told detectives he became angry after seeing the worker prepare his pizza “with no gloves on.” He said he demanded someone else remake it and claimed the exchange escalated when Owies “became loud with the Defendant and said he would do something to the Defendant.”
When asked what happened next, Leggett told police, “I shot him.” He said he fired once, ran from the store, and threw away his clothes.
Prosecutors described the killing as a senseless act of rage over a minor complaint. Owies’ family and colleagues have remembered him as a kind young father who worked hard to support his loved ones.
Leggett’s sentencing next month will determine whether he ever walks free again.
