Gas Station Homicide Suspect Pleads Not Guilty

A 20-year-old Waukesha man facing life in prison on charges alleging he gunned down a gas station clerk during a robbery pleaded not guilty to several charges during a court hearing Wednesday.

Billy J. Ingram will return to court at 10 a.m. Oct. 4 on the first-degree intentional homicide charge. He also is charged with armed robbery, possession of a firearm and possession of marijuana.

The clerk, Nayyer Rana, 56, an immigrant from Pakistan raising his children in Waukesha, was shot three times and was pronounced dead at the scene. His body was discovered at 4:19 a.m. May 29 by a customer who stopped at the on East Broadway about twice a week.

Ingram, who was on probation for a burglary conviction in Milwaukee County, was living with his cousin on Jackson Court in Waukesha. The criminal complaint alleges that Ingram used his cousin’s .40-caliber Smith & Wesson handgun to hold up the Petro Mart gas station May 29, where he shot and killed Rana while stealing $985, cigars, cigarettes and snacks.

A court commissioner decided Thursday following a preliminary hearing that the district attorney's office had shown