The day before he allegedly shot and killed a West Valley City worker in his driveway, Kevin Wayne Billings had made a phone call summoning her to his home.
Billings, 64, had been mailed a “notice of violation” last month by code-enforcement officer Jill Robinson — papers that instructed him to improve his yard and call city officials for a compliance inspection by Aug. 6 or face daily fines.
Billings did call Robinson on Aug. 8, according to charging documents, and told his daughter early the next morning he had an appointment with a code-enforcement officer at 10 a.m.
But by 10:21 a.m., chaos broke out on Wendy Avenue.
A West Valley City vehicle was in flames. Robinson lay dead in Billings’ driveway, with a single gunshot wound to the head. A neighboring house was on fire.
(Courtesy of West Valley City) Code enforcement officer Jill Robinson, 52, was shot and killed Thursday, Aug. 9, 2018. A 65-year-old man was taken into custody as a suspect.
Billings on Tuesday was charged with aggravated murder and a dozen other crimes. Among them are accusations that he tried to light Robinson’s body on fire after he had shot her, according to charging documents.
Prosecutors wrote in court papers that Billings' neighbor came to his home after hearing a gunshot and saw Robinson was deceased. She turned to Billings, who was sitting on his walker in the driveway, smirking.
“Why did you shoot her?” the neighbor asked, according to the documents.
“I’ve had all the harassment I can take,” Billings allegedly responded.
Before the fatal shooting and fires, Billings had received several complaints in the mail about the condition of his yard and unregistered vehicles on his property, his daughter told police.
The man whose house was set on fire told police that Billings had recently contacted his wife and accused them of calling code enforcement on him.
Four of the man’s dogs died in the early August blaze, deaths that led prosecutors to file four counts of misdemeanor cruelty to an animal charges against Billings.
He also faces charges of aggravated arson and abuse or desecration of a human body, in addition to charges of possession of explosive parts. Police say they found three spools of detonation cord, along with 400 blasting caps with altered shock tubes, in Billings’ home in a search after the fires.
Aggravated murder carries the possibility of the death penalty, but prosecutors would not make the decision to seek that punishment until after a preliminary hearing is held in the case.
No court dates have been set as of Tuesday morning.
Robinson, 52, had worked for the city for 10 years in code enforcement, which includes issuing citations for vehicles parked on lawns, driveways filled with weeds or garbage piled up outside homes.
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