More: Read the Criminal Complaint

GERMANTOWN - A Grafton man strangled his 14-year-old stepson with a necktie in a minivan in a Walmart parking lot, telling investigators he wanted to get revenge on his wife and her relatives for interfering in his business, prosecutors said Tuesday.

Charles A. Avey Sr., 37, was charged with first-degree intentional homicide and felony bail jumping in the death of Cody A. Reetz.

Prosecutors said Avey killed Reetz to punish his wife's mother, sisters and ex-husband for meddling in his family's affairs, prosecutors said. Around the same time as the teen's death on Sunday, Avey's wife was filing a police report alleging that he repeatedly struck her with a hammer the previous week, the criminal complaint said.

Cody's body was found in the minivan, a necktie knotted tightly around his neck, prosecutors said. A medical examiner said the eighth grader died of strangulation.

His family said Wednesday that funeral services for Cody will be held Friday at a funeral home in West Bend.

On the day of the slaying, Avey's mother-in-law picked his wife up from their home, and neither responded to Avey's repeated text messages, according to a criminal complaint.

Avey then got into his car, drove around and spotted his mother-in-law's car at the police station, the complaint said. He then went home, picked up Cody and drove to the Walmart, where they sat in the parking lot while Avey grew increasingly agitated that his wife didn't call him back, it said.

The complaint accuses Avey of strangling Cody with one necktie and using a second necktie to tie his arm to a seat.

After the slaying Avey called a friend and asked her to pick him up. Avey then called his ex-wife, Krista Avey, who agreed to meet him at a grocery store, the complaint said.

He told his ex-wife to drive him to the Washington County Sheriff's Department, where he surrendered to authorities.

Three notes were found next to Cody's body, the complaint said. One said Avey's mother-in-law and sisters-in-law were to blame for Cody's death. A second asked Avey's ex-wife to take good care of their three sons and was signed, "Love, Chuck." The third was addressed to his three sons and closed with, "All my love, Daddy."

His ex-wife told authorities that Avey told her he killed Cody because the teen's birth father wasn't a good father and because he wanted to punish his wife for going to police, the complaint said.

"He told me he wasn't thinking at the time and that she hurt him," Krista Avey told TODAY'S TMJ4.

At his first court appearance Tuesday, Avey never looked at his wife and her devastated family. He sat just feet away, while Cody's loved ones each wore a picture of him over their hearts.

District Attorney Todd Martens said he was disgusted by the details of the case. "This was a savage act. It's sickening. (It's) a crime of almost incomprehensible brutality and it was committed against a family member," Martens said.

Avey's bail was set at $750,000.

If convicted of first-degree intentional homicide, Avey would face a sentence of life in prison. A judge could also permit the possibility of parole. The bail-jumping charge carries a maximum penalty of six years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

Avey also faces five counts of felony identity theft for allegedly applying for credit cards in the name of his wife's previous husband and running up bills of more than $22,000.

The criminal complaint quotes Avey as admitting to those actions and telling investigators his wife had nothing to do with the fraud. Those charges carry a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison and a $50,000 fine. A hearing on those charges is set for Dec. 2.

Cody's murder is even affecting people he didn't know. Hundreds offered their condolences on a Facebook tribute page. But for those who did know him, the pain was obvious. "Anyone who loses a loved one under these circumstances... what they're going through is incomprehensible," D.A. Martens said.

(The Associated Press contributed to this report.)