Waukesha shooting at Extended Stay hotel; mother, daughter charged
WAUKESHA, Wis. - A Texas mother and daughter have been charged in connection to a shooting at the Waukesha Extended Stay hotel on Monday, Oct. 17.
Sha Rhonda Ford, 45, is charged with substantial battery. Aleyah Hall, 21, is charged with first-degree recklessly endangering safety.
Waukesha police were called to the Extended Stay for a reported "domestic disturbance" around 7:40 p.m. Monday. Officers found the victim in a hotel room, who said she was shot in the knee with her own gun by another woman who still had the weapon.
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A criminal complaint states officers watched surveillance video from the hotel. The video showed a woman walking out of the hallway into the parking lot with a gun in her hand. That woman, later identified as Hall, was arrested. She had a gun in her possession and red stains on her jacket.
Police later spoke to a man who said he was at the hotel with the victim. The complaint states he told police that he heard a knock on the door, and a woman – identified by the complaint as Ford – "bum-rushed into the room" screaming that a woman, the eventual victim, was in the room. Hall, as well as other people who the man said he didn't know, then came into the room.
Shooting scene at Extended Stay in Waukesha
Per the complaint, the man said he saw Ford throw a glass at the victim and saw Hall wrestle the victim's gun away. The incident moved to the hallway where the man said Hall looked like he was going to shoot the victim. He said he later heard a gunshot, and the victim locked herself inside the hotel room.
At the hospital where she was being treated, the victim spoke to police. The complaint states she was with the man at his hotel room when there was a knock on the door. The victim said a group of people she didn't know – including Hall and Ford – pushed into the room.
The victim said Ford threw a glass, hitting her in the head and causing her to drop her purse. As she tried to pick up her purse, the complaint states, she said the gun fell out and Hall tried to take it. They were fighting over the gun, and the larger altercation moved into the hallway. Per the complaint, the victim said she saw Hall point the gun at her and shoot her. She then locked herself in the room and called 911.
Shooting scene at Extended Stay in Waukesha
Defendants' statements
Ford told police, the complaint states, that she drove up from Dallas to meet the man who was in the hotel room. She said she and several others, including her daughter, Hall, were at the Extended Stay.
Per the complaint, Ford described finding the man's hotel room and an altercation that ensued among everyone who was there. She said the victim pulled a gun out during the altercation and that the man and Hall tried to take it from her.
Sha Rhonda Ford; Alyeah Hall
Ford said, the complaint states, that she threw the glass to protect herself. She said she later heard one shot fired and saw the victim lock herself inside the hotel room – but did not know the victim was shot.
The complaint states Hall told police she drove to the hotel with her mom, who knew the man in the hotel room. She said they knocked on the hotel room door and the man answered. They could see the victim inside, and Ford pushed her way into the room – Hall and the others in the group following.
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Hall said she saw her mother, Ford, "throw something hard at the other woman's face, causing it to bleed," the complaint states.
According to the complaint, the man announced the victim had a gun in her purse and tried to stop her from getting it out. Hall said she took the gun and went into the hallway and was "cocking the gun" – she said she had never shot a gun before but "learned it from the movies."
Suspect arrested after shooting at Extended Stay in Waukesha
Hall said the victim was yelling at her, the complaint states. It was at that time that, she said, that she pointed the gun toward the victim – but at the floor – and pulled the trigger. Hall said the victim jumped and went into the hotel room.
The complaint states Hall kept the gun and turned herself in. Hall said she initially went to get the gun because the man "couldn't control" the victim, and Hall feared the victim was going to shoot her. She said she wanted to scare the victim, but had no "intent to hit or kill her" when she fired the shot.
Court records show Ford made her initial court appearance on Oct. 19 and her cash bond was set at $6,000. She is due back in court on Oct. 27. Hall made her initial appearance the same day, had her cash bond set at $50,000 and is also due back on Oct. 27.