A Wisconsin man, Kavonn Ingram, has been handed a 45-year prison sentence for the brutal murder of his Pizza Hut manager, Alexander Stengel. Ingram, who had previously pleaded guilty to first-degree reckless homicide in August, asserted a self-defense claim during his sentencing hearing on Friday.
Ingram maintained that his actions were a response to an altercation at the restaurant, insisting that he was initially attacked and was merely acting in “survival mode.” However, Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Michelle Havas rejected his self-defense argument, expressing skepticism about his account of the events.
Judge Havas characterized the incident as a “cold-blooded execution,” rather than an act of self-defense. She underscored the victim’s 33-year tenure at Pizza Hut, a low-wage job, suggesting that the murder was a calculated act rather than a spontaneous response to a perceived threat.
The chain of events leading to the murder began on February 3, when Stengel displayed a large sum of money to his colleagues, including Ingram. The money was part of a $7,000 inheritance. Two days later, Ingram shot Stengel in the head in the restaurant’s kitchen, placed his body in two garbage bags, and discarded it in a dumpster behind the restaurant.
In an attempt to conceal his crime, Ingram cleaned the murder scene and used Stengel’s phone to send a message to Stengel’s regional manager, claiming that Stengel was ill and had left work early. He then clocked Stengel out of work and took a bus home.
The crime was uncovered two days later when a garbage truck driver reported a suspicious-looking garbage can to the police. Upon investigation, the police discovered Stengel’s body, wrapped in a plastic bag, in the garbage can. A trail of dried blood led from the body to the back door of the restaurant. Inside the restaurant, officers found a section of the kitchen floor unusually clean and signs of blood in the closet.