Man police believe shot, killed 33-year-old faces gun possession charge

MADISON, Wis. — The man accused of returning fire in a Sun Prairie apartment parking lot, killing a man in June, is facing a felony gun charge, officials said.

A criminal complaint filed in Dane County court Monday said Steve. E. Adams, 34, of Madison, is charged with possession of a firearm by an out-of-state felon in connection with a gunfire incident on June 18 that killed Thomas Leonard .

The criminal complaint, Adams was standing outside a vehicle in a Sun Prairie parking lot in the 400 block of South Bird Street at 1:40 a.m. when Leonard, 33, pulled up.

According to police reports, a woman with Adams told police that Adams fired back at Leonard. Leonard died at the scene, police said.

The woman with Adams said he was armed with a gun, but that she had put it in her purse, which she initially didn’t tell officers at the scene, but told police later. Adams told police he had been in possession fo a .38-caliber revolver on June 18, which he’d used to shoot Leonard.

Adams was convicted of felony possession of a controlled substance in Illinois in 2009 and sentenced to three years imprisonment, making him an out-of-state felon, the criminal complaint states.

A status conference on the gun charge is scheduled at 1:30 p.m. Oct. 2, according to online records.

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