The media code "teen" used to cover for black gang banger thugs. The guns that these two used didn't have a background check. Criminals like this will always be able to get their murderous hands on guns. JMO
2nd teen charged in murder of Hoover father, Iraq veteran





Ahmad Johnson, 17, and Charleston Wells, 16, are charge with murder in the Jan. 5, 2016 death of Mike Gilotti outside his Hoover home in the Lake Cyrus neighborhood.

By Carol Robinson | crobinson@al.com
on February 04, 2016 at 10:34 AM,

A second teen is now charged in the shooting death of a Hoover husband, father and Iraq war veteran.

Authorities today announced a murder charge against 17-year-old Ahmad Johnson. He is charged in the slaying of 33-year-old Mike Gilotti who was gunned down Jan. 5, and then collapsed and died on the front steps of his Lake Cyrus home.

A Jefferson County grand jury six days ago indicted Johnson and 16-year-old Charleston Wells, each on one count of murder and nine counts of unlawful breaking and entering a vehicle.

Johnson has been in custody since Jan. 7, held in Jefferson County's Family Court system. He is now charged as an adult, and expected to be transferred to the Jefferson County Jail where Wells has been held without bond since January. At least two other suspects are in custody on other charges, but they have not yet been named or charged in Gilotti's death.

"Please understand we will continue to investigate this case until we are satisfied that everybody involved is behind bars," Hoover police Chief Nick Derzis said at a press conference held today to announce Johnson's arrest.

Investigators today said Johnson, Wells and the other suspects are members of a Bessemer-area gang called M-tre, which stands for Money Making Mafia. Though they claim to be aspiring rappers, Rector said M-tre members are street criminals who break into cars and commit other crimes to get money. They often post pictures of themselves on Facebook and other social media sites holding guns and money.

"I called them common street thugs at our last press conference and I think that still is an appropriate term to describe them,'' said Hoover police Capt. Gregg Rector. "They're not aspiring rappers, they're criminals. They're criminals who break into cars for a living. In this case, they're property thieves who when confronted by a homeowner, they take that to a whole new level and shoot and kill an innocent person."

"Their motto is 'get money.' When they talk about getting money, that means taking money from you, and I, and people who actually have jobs and earn money for a living,'' Rector said. "Getting money to them means stealing from innocent victims. That's their existence."

VIDEO AT LINK - Hoover Police discuss arrest of second suspect in murder of Iraq veteran Hoover police met with the media to discuss the arrest of a second suspect in the shooting death of a Hoover man and answer questions


Johnson's name was one of several that emerged very early in this investigation. He was arrested on January 7 by Bessemer police officers, Rector said. At the time of his arrest, he was in possession of two guns and also was driving a stolen vehicle that also contained several other stolen items.

"Today is another giant step toward justice for Mike Gilotti's family,'' Rector said. "We've said all along that our goal was to hold every suspect involved in this case accountable. The arrest of Charleston Wells was the first step. The arrest of Ahmad Johnson was the second step. Now our full focus and efforts will be geared toward the other suspects who participated in this crime spree, and were present when Mr. Gilotti was gunned down."

Police today also said that the teens are believed to have been responsible for a similar crime in a neighboring city just 25 hours before Gilott's death. Rector declined to identify that city, but said another homeowner was shot at multiple times when he left his home and encountered two young men walking up his driveway. "They were on a crime spree, and that crime spree lasted several days,'' Rector said. "It ended with the death of Mike Gilotti. Everyone who was present when Mike Gilotti was shot and killed is going to be held accountable."

Gilotti was shot to death about 4:55 a.m. just outside his home in the 5500 block of Park Side Circle in Hoover's Lake Cyrus subdivision. He was heading to the gym for a morning workout when police say he encountered one or more suspects breaking into his car. According to the affidavit used to secure the murder warrant against Wells, his wife, Heather Gilotti, heard two gunshots and then heard a vehicle "with a large engine" pulling away from the scene. Gilotti collapsed on his doorstep. He was later pronounced dead on the scene.



Hoover father, veteran shot in the back, records show

Court records recently made public detail evidence found at the Hoover murder scene, and also chronicle what happened in Tuscaloosa in the hours prior to Mike Gilotti's murder.
As Hoover investigators processed the crime scene, they found a .40-caliber shell casing in Gilotti's front yard, and a 9 mm shell casing down the street. Later that morning, about 11:30 a.m., the dark green Ford F-250 was found parked on abandoned property at the intersection of Rowland Avenue and Elmore Drive in Bessemer. Outside of that truck was a PlayStation 3, which had been reported stolen from a vehicle at another home on Gilotti's street.

Home surveillance video obtained from a neighbor gave investigators a vehicle description and, just six hours after the killing, Bessemer police were notified of an abandoned truck near the intersection of Roland Avenue and Elmore Street near the Jonesboro and Burstall communities. It was the older Ford F-250 pickup seen leaving the Lake Cyrus area very close to the time of the shooting.

Investigators learned the truck had been stolen from Tuscaloosa County. Detectives obtained surveillance video from two gas stations near where that truck had been stolen. One of those videos showed a man get out of the truck and into a Tahoe. That same person was seen in a second video going into the MAPCO gas station and buying a cigar. Another person was seeing going into the service station to pay for gas.

Police released images from both cameras to the public for help identifying the young men. Tips from the public helped to identify them as Wells and 19-year-old De'Ron Lucas. Lucas also identified for investigators Wells as the other person in the video footage.
According to court records, Wells' fingerprints matched fingerprints found on the passenger's side of the stolen F-250, and also matched fingerprints found on the stolen PlayStation 3.

Police said Wells and Johnson are among several suspects, and they are not yet saying who pulled the trigger. All four suspects range in age from 16-20.

Boy, 16, charged in murder of Hoover husband, father, vet
A murder warrant was signed this morning against Bessemer City High School student Charleston Wells.

Investigators said several possible suspect names emerged very early in the investigation and it became apparent all of them had ties to the Bessemer area. Law enforcement agencies throughout the Birmingham area have recovered multiple stolen vehicles, all affiliated with the group of suspects. The group is being investigated for their possible involvement in crimes in other cities.

Lucas, of McCalla, has not been charged in Gilotti's death, but is charged with 10 counts of unlawful breaking and entering and one count of first-degree theft of property in Tuscaloosa County. According to court records in those cases, cars were broken into at eight homes on Inverness Parkway and Weatherby Drive in Tuscaloosa County. The Ford F-250 driver to Gilotti's neighborhood was taken from one of those Inverness Parkway homes. The keys had been left in the Ford-250. Court records filed in the case of Lucas provide a detailed timeline of the events that took place in Tuscaloosa prior to the killing of Gilotti in Hoover.

"These groups of predators, whether they're gang members, wannabe gang members, or just individuals robbing and shooting people, when you can't go get a cheeseburger, or come out of your house to go work out without getting robbed or shot, it seems to me they have declared war on us,'' Bill Veitch, district attorney in the Bessemer Division, said at the time of Wells' arrest. "We're declaring war on them. We're going to prosecute these crimes like our lives depend on it, because they do."

Rector said the investigation is far from over. "We've worked every single day since this crime occurred and we'll continue,'' he said. "I wish this could go faster than it's going, but I'm very grateful that we're 30 days after the death of Mike Gilotti and now we've officially held a second person who is responsible accountable for his actions."

At least 15 agencies are involved in the ongoing probe.

"We have multiple individuals involved, we have mounds of evidence to sift through, we have multiple car break-ins and we're having to treat each of those break-ins like it itself is a murder scene so we have to be extremely meticulous,'' Rector said. "Hundreds of fingerprints have to be analyzed. We want to make sure we get this right. We're talking about holding people accountable for a series of crimes, we're talking about taking people's liberty away and charging them with murder. We have to be absolutely certain that we get this right. We've already gotten it right two times."

Rector praised Bessemer police for their work in the case, and their ongoing crime-fighting efforts in that city, where M-tre is primarily based. "They have an excellent department. They can only do so much,'' he said. "They can't go into someone's home and raise and kid and teach him right from wrong just like Hoover PD can't."

Crime is everywhere, Rector said, an no person, no community is immune from the potential. "No matter what kind of neighborhood you live in, what city you live in, you're never going to be completely insulated from crime,'' he said. "In this case, I'm not sure there's anything Mr. Gilotti could have done to have prevented his murder. Mr. Gilotti was not armed, but I don't think it would have mattered. He surprised these individuals and instead of running and fleeing like thieves do, they shot and killed him."

Gilotti's death struck a chord with the community, and with investigators. "This is just a regular guy living in a nice neighborhood, family, job, doing everything right,'' Rector said. "he was not only shot and killed in front of his house, he was shot in the back and killed in front of his house."

This was a guy who served his country, he fought for this country in Iraq for 15 months. He fought door to door for our country,'' he said. "To see someone like him get gunned down for no apparent reason, absolutely it's person to us."

Rector said there are still individuals in the Bessemer community who have information about this case who have not yet come forward. They are asked to call Sgt. Keith Czeskleba at 205-739-6795 or the Hoover Police Department at 205-822-5300. Tipsters who want to remain anonymous and be eligible for a cash reward can call Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777.

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