The Milwaukee Post

By SARAH PRYOR Conley News Service WAUKESHA — Waukesha County Circuit Court Commissioner Thomas Pieper set cash bail at $1 million for Kenneth Thomas, the man accused of shooting a Citgo clerk to death last week, and at $250,000 for Jerica Cotton, the woman accused of driving the getaway car. Thomas, 19, a West Allis resi- dent, was charged Monday with seven felonies, including first- degree intentional homicide, armed robbery, and providing a dangerous weapon to a person younger than 18. Cotton, 23, who lives in Milwaukee, was charged as a party to felony murder and felony armed robbery. Their alleged accomplice, 28- year-old Darrin Malone, was still on the run as of a Wednesday evening press time, and the Citgo's owner has offered a $5,000 reward for information leading to his capture. Charges were filed Wednesday against Malone, who is facing one count of felony murder as a party to a crime in the shooting death of Saeed Sharwani. He is to be held on $500,000 bail. According to the criminal complaint, police arrived at the Citgo, 1445 White Rock Ave., at 10:45 p.m. Jan. 13 to find clerk Sharwani, 65, prone on the ground outside the station with a gunshot wound to the chest. He was unable to speak and was only able to answer a question about how many people had been there by holding up two fingers. Sharwani died at Waukesha Memorial Hospital less than an hour later. According to the complaint, Thomas told investigators that Malone put him up to the robbery because "there was money out in Waukesha," and Malone supplied Halloween masks. Thomas also told police that during the rob- bery, he jumped onto the counter and Sharwani started "freaking out," came around the counter, grabbed Thomas and "the next thing he knew, the gun went off." Thomas said he didn't shoot on purpose, and he thought the gun's safety was on. He said Malone told him to put the gun in the "baby bag." Police later found the gun in a diaper box in one of the bedrooms of Thomas' apartment. Cotton told police that on Jan. 13, she agreed to give Thomas and Malone a ride in exchange for $50 for gas money. She said once they got to Waukesha and she parked on a side street, the men got out of the vehicle and left — Cotton believed with the intent of breaking into a house. She said after a little while she saw Thomas running from the gas station parking lot, and he got into the back seat of her car saying, "I just shot the dude." According to the complaint, Cotton told police she drove away from the scene with the men in her car, but got lost in the streets of Waukesha for a while before eventually making it to the inter- state. She said once they got to a friend's apartment in Milwaukee County, she disposed of the men's jackets and hats they had left in her car, and sent one of them a text asking for $60 for driving them. In court on Monday, Cotton's attorney Maura McMahon said Cotton wasn't aware of what was going on and has no prior crimi- nal record other than speeding tickets, which McMahon called "refreshing." On Jan. 14, police executed a weapons-related search warrant in the 5000 block of West Washington Avenue in West Allis and uncovered the green masks and a 9 mm semi-automatic hand- gun. The owner of the Citgo told police $1,700 was missing from the store. Thomas also was charged with armed robbery related to a Jan. 10 robbery of a 7-Eleven at 19600 W. Bluemound Road, Town of Brookfield, in which Thomas allegedly fired a shot to scare the clerk, but the clerk laughed and threw the register drawer at him before chasing him out of the store. According to the criminal complaint, Thomas told police Malone accompanied him to that robbery, which he said took place down the street from a hotel from where Thomas' sister had been arrested for prostitution, and Cotton drove them there. Cotton told police that she drove to the Town of Brookfield because they said they needed to pick up some money from a man at a hotel, but when Thomas and Malone returned to her vehicle, one was upset at the other for almost shooting him. P o l i c e asked her why if she knew Thomas and Malone had been involved in a robbery and shooting in Brookfield, would she agree to drive them a second time less than a week later to Waukesha, and she said "it was simply in her nature to help people." Thomas allegedly admitted to robbing a bank, a gas station, a store and a liquor store in Milwaukee County, as well. Thomas allegedly fired one round at the store clerk and one round into the ceiling while rob- bing County Beer and Liquor on South 60th Street in West Allis on Jan. 7. Police matched the 9 mm bullet casings with those from the rob- bery scenes in the Town of Brookfield and Waukesha, according to the complaint. The same day as the liquor store robbery, Thomas came to Waukesha to visit his girlfriend's sister, a 15-year-old Waukesha South High School student. The teen told police Thomas showed her $260 in $20 bills, gave her one bill to keep, and allowed her to take photographs of herself with a gun and the money using her school-issued iPad. Thomas also went to his 17- year-old girlfriend's house and showed her the gun, which he told her he has "for protection cuz people are trying to kill me." As a result, Thomas was also charged with providing a danger- ous weapon to a person younger than 18. Thomas' attorney Anthony Cotton — no relation to Jerica Cotton — told Pieper that a pre- trial screening of his client uncovered some possible mental health issues and asked for a less- er bail. "His alleged actions will have a lifelong impact for many peo- ple," Pieper said before setting bail at $1 million in cash. If convicted, Thomas faces life in prison, and Cotton faces up to 95 years' imprisonment. Contact Sarah Pryor spryor@conleynet.com 6 • Milwaukee County Post • January 23, 2015 Judge sets $1M cash bail for West Allis man in Waukesha gas station murder Police connect suspects to other robberies; third one still at large Photos by Charles Auer/Conley News Service Left: Kenneth Thomas is led into a courtroom Monday for an initial appearance on multiple charges, including first-degree intentional homicide in the death of Saeed Sharwani. Right: Jerica Cotton enters a courtroom Monday for an initial appear- ance on two felony charges related to her alleged role in the armed robbery of a Citgo station and the murder of clerk Saeed Sharwani. Sharwani

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