The 16-year-old was living in a tent in the back yard of his Rose Park home, relying on friends for food because his father had locked him out.
Friends say Justin Kruger tried to rob a man because he needed money. But when the man drove away without handing over his wallet, Kruger shot and killed him, they testified.Kruger, 16, is charged with murder, a first-degree felony, in the Sept. 13 shooting death of Solomon Gomez Vasquez. Vasquez was shot once in the chest as he sat in his car at the intersection of 600 North and 1000 West.
One of Kruger's friends testified during a preliminary hearing Wednesday that he loaned Kruger the gun used in the shooting for $7, which he then spent on video games.
Shane Nielsen, 19, said the .32-caliber handgun had one bullet in it when he gave it to Kruger a day before the robbery. It was empty when he asked for it back two days later, he said.
Both Nielsen and Richard J. Nelson, 16, testified that Kruger told them the day after the shooting that he'd shot a man.
Nelson, who lived across the street from Kruger, said Kruger and Nielsen struck the deal for the gun while in a video arcade in a shopping mall on Sept. 12, the day before the shooting.
Kruger, whom Nelson described as his best friend, gave Nielsen the $7 while in the arcade, Nelson said. "He blew it. Blew it on the games," Nelson said. "I spent some of it," he added.
Nelson said when he saw his friend the next day, Kruger told him he'd shot a man while trying to take his wallet and told Nelson where the incident occurred.
Nelson testified Kruger told him he walked up to the parked car, pulled the gun, and demanded the driver's wallet, telling him not to try to drive away or he'd shoot.
But the victim apparently didn't understand what Kruger was saying, Nelson indicated, and as he started to drive away, Kruger fired.
Kruger's sister, Anne Kruger, testified her brother told her he shot the man as the car drove off and bumped his hand.
Nelson testified Kruger "had kind of given up." He was living in a tent in the back yard of his home because he'd been locked out of the house by his father and stepmother. He said Justin Kruger depended on friends and neighbors for food, bathroom use, and other necessities.
Nelson said he believes Kruger committed the robbery because he needed some money.
"He was either sleeping in the tent or at my house. He didn't have nothing, no food, not much clothes, he'd come over to my house to use the bathroom," Nelson testified.
Anne Kruger said she was trying to talk her boyfriend into buying a home where the three of them could live. When she told her brother about her plan the day after the robbery, Justin told her he "might be in prison by then because I shot somebody."
Kruger was charged as an adult in the slaying under the state's 1996 Serious Youth Offender Law, which requires murder suspects older than 14 to be tried in district rather than juvenile court.
Kruger had only a minor criminal record before his arrest, one parks and recreation violation at age 14 that was handled in juvenile court with a $40 fine.
According to charging documents, Kruger admitted his role in the fatal robbery attempt to police after his arrest. He has also admitted to four other armed robberies, two that occurred the same night as the fatal one, according to court documents.
A man and woman were walking home near 850 North and 900 West that night when a young man demanded money from them at gunpoint. They told him they had no money and gave him a can of beer instead.
A woman told police she and a friend were making a phone call at a convenience store at 950 W. 1000 North when a man they identified as Kruger came up to them, pulled a gun, and demanded money.
One woman laughed at him but the other gave him $5 and he left.
Four days earlier, on Sept. 8, a man driving near 1000 North and 1300 West was held up, giving Kruger his wallet with $13 and some credit cards.
And on July 27, the 7-Eleven store in the 500 North block of 300 West was held up at gunpoint, netting Kruger about $150, according to court documents.
Each of the four robberies are also first-degree felonies, which carry a prison term of five years to life.
Wednesday's preliminary hearing was continued until Dec. 2.