A Mount Horeb man was charged Thursday with attempted first-degree intentional homicide after police said he shot his girlfriend’s former boyfriend outside a town of Middleton motel on Monday night.
A criminal complaint states a man later identified as Deonta A. Gaines, 24, shot another man about 11:20 p.m. Monday in the parking lot of the Quality Inn, 6900 Seybold Road. The victim walked into the motel lobby and was taken to UW Hospital to be treated for gunshot wounds to a leg and an arm.
Gaines, who was charged as a repeat offender, appeared in court Thursday and was ordered jailed on $150,000 bail.
Gaines
According to the complaint:
A detective who watched a surveillance video of the incident described seeing the shooting victim in the parking lot, then walking up to the door of an SUV that pulled into the lot. It looked then like he was shot by someone from inside the SUV, then backed away and threw a bottle at the SUV.
The video shows the man run and hide behind another vehicle until the SUV left, then go to his own car to retrieve something before going into the motel.
The victim at first claimed not knowing who had shot him. But told about the video, he told police the shooter was his ex-girlfriend’s current boyfriend, with whom he has had ongoing problems.
He told police he knew the man only as D.A., and later identified him from a photo lineup as Gaines, and said he had had a confrontation with him the night before the shooting.
On Monday night, he said, the SUV pulled into the parking lot and he and Gaines began to exchange words. He said he was asking Gaines “why you keep pulling up on me?”
He said he and Gaines were talking when “he just let loose” and “he shot me.”
“He said something to me, then gunfire went off,” the man told police.
Through various records and prior police reports, along with the photo lineup given to the shooting victim, police were able to identify the person called D.A. as Gaines.
Police were also able to locate the SUV and found it was registered to another person. Contacting that person, he told police he remembered selling it to “D.A. someone.”
After his arrest, Gaines denied he had ever been inside the SUV, despite being seen in it by police only hours earlier. Searching the vehicle, police found a gun that was determined to have been stolen and was connected to another case being investigated by the Dane County Sheriff’s Office.
More COVID-19 outbreaks in Wisconsin prisons top recent crime news
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The number of COVID-19 cases in the Wisconsin prison system increased again Monday, with several outbreaks now totaling more than 1,700 active cases among inmates.
Since Sunday, 383 new cases were added to the state Department of Correction’s data dashboard, bringing the total number of cases since the pandemic began up to 4,729.
Total COVID-19 cases in Wisconsin prison system break 5,000; active cases at 2,000
The total number of COVID-19 cases in the Wisconsin prison system broke 5,000 for the first time Thursday, and the active case count surpassed 2,000.
The Wisconsin Department of Corrections reported 467 new cases in a single day Thursday, bringing the total number of prisoners infected since the pandemic began to 5,392. Of those, 2,063 cases were active.
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Police took several calls Halloween night, including a few from the media, following a social media post that indicated someone "saw a girl get kidnapped" following an altercation between a man and woman in parking lot in the 400 block of West Gilman Street about 7:30 p.m., police spokesman Joel DeSpain said in a statement.
Rental office burns, but rest of South Side apartment building saved by Madison fire crews
A rental office was extensively damaged in a fire Tuesday morning, but the rest of a South Side apartment building was saved by firefighters, the Madison Fire Department said.
The fire at the Bram Hill Apartments, 613 Bram St., was reported at 8:59 a.m. and crews arrived at the scene at 9:03 a.m. to find a fire in the first-floor rental office, Fire Department spokeswoman Cynthia Schuster said.
Narcotics investigation leads to $10,000 worth of drugs, arrest of Fitchburg man
A Dane County Narcotics Task Force investigation led to drugs worth thousands of dollars, cash, a handgun and the arrest of a Fitchburg man Thursday morning.
Members of the task force seized $10,000 worth of drugs, $2,700 in cash, the gun and other evidence from 36-year-old Justin C. Miner's apartment on the 1400 block of Whispering Pines Way at around 8:10 a.m. Thursday, Madison police spokesperson Joel DeSpain said. Miner was arrested on a parole hold.
Convenience store worker traded tobacco, money for nude pictures, sex with teen, Middleton police say
A convenience store worker is accused of trading tobacco and money for nude pictures and sex with a teen girl.
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Medical Examiner releases name of man killed in Far West Side triple shooting
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Eggleston died at the scene of the shootings that also seriously injured two teens, ages 17 and 18.
Monticello man gets 42 months in federal prison for possessing ammunition as a felon
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Report: No 'exigent' reason to enter Monona home where Black man was detained
An outside review of a controversial June 2 detainment of a Black man in Monona has found police likely did not have authority to enter the home where he was briefly handcuffed, but also says “officers were polite, professional and apologized for the misunderstanding.”
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Man charged with threatening to kill grandmother, misuse of her identity
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Ed Treleven | Wisconsin State Journal
Ed Treleven is the courts reporter for the Wisconsin State Journal.
