Teen indicted in murder of Hoover war veteran

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Police say Mike Gilotti was killed in front of his home in the Lake Cyrus subdivision of... — Police say Mike Gilotti was killed in front of his home in the Lake Cyrus subdivision of Hoover. Source: WBRC video

JEFFERSON COUNTY, AL (WBRC) - A teenage suspect charged with the murder of an Iraq War veteran killed in front of his Hoover home has been indicted in the crime, according to court documents.

Charleston Wells, 16, is charged with the murder of Mike Gilotti, a married 33-year-old father of two who was fatally shot while leaving his house to go to the gym early in the morning on Jan. 5.

Police believe Wells and other suspects broke into several vehicles in the Tuscaloosa area, stole a truck, drove to Hoover and broke into cars in Gilotti's Lake Cyrus neighborhood around the same time Gilotti was shot.

The Jefferson County grand jury indictment says Wells "did on or about January 5, 2016, intentionally cause the death of another person, Jonathan Michael Gilotti, by shooting him with a firearm, or did aid or abet in said act."

Wells has also been indicted on nine charges of breaking and entering vehicles on or around Jan. 5, according to court documents.

Hoover police said nine vehicles were broken into on Park Side Circle, where Gilotti lived, in the same time frame as the murder.

An affidavit stated Wells' fingerprints matched prints found on the stolen Ford F-250 pickup truck that had reportedly been seen near Gilotti's home in the Lake Cyrus subdivision around the time of the shooting.

The affidavit also stated Wells' fingerprints were identified on a PS3 video game found near the abandoned truck. The game had been identified as one of the stolen items from a vehicle break-in on Park Side Circle.

U.S. Marshals arrested Wells in the Bessemer area on Jan. 13 and took him into custody without incident.

Another young man, 19-year-old De'Ron Lucas, was arrested in connection to the Tuscaloosa County vehicle break-ins, but has not been charged in connection to Gilotti's murder.

Wells' attorney, Charles Salvagio, described his client as a "scared 16-year-old black kid who hasn't killed anybody."

"In my experience over the years, there has been a rush to judgement in these high profile cases," the attorney said from his office in a previous interview.

"There is a lot of emotion in it. For me, too, because he [Gilotti] was an American hero. He was a patriot, but the worse insult you can pay him is to just arrest anybody for it and say this is your killer. From what I know right now, not enough evidence," Salvagio said.

Wells' preliminary hearing was scheduled for Feb. 4 but Judge David Hobdy granted the prosecution's request to delay it until Tuesday, Feb. 16.

Wells is currently being held without bond in the Jefferson County Jail in Birmingham. He will have a bond hearing at 10 a.m. on Thursday, Feb. 4.