MILWAUKEE, WI (WTAQ) – A Milwaukee woman was sentenced on Tuesday to three years on probation for destroying evidence to help cover up the murder of a Green Bay man.
19-year-old Emma Brud previously pleaded no contest to a count of aiding a felon stemming from the Feb. 25, 2017 death of Jovanny Puga.
Brud was also ordered by Milwaukee County Judge Jeffrey Wagner to perform 30 hours of community service.
Brandan Guyton-Denn, Shawn Leitner, and Jaleel Schultz are charged with his murder after Puga was beaten and left for dead in a Milwaukee river. His body has never been found.
Investigators learned in March of 2017 reports of a man beaten to death and thrown into the Milwaukee River at Lincoln Park, according to the criminal complaint.
After West Bend police stopped a vehicle that was reported stolen out of De Pere by Brud’s mother, three of the four suspects were arrested, according to the criminal complaint.
Internet searches of “Lincoln Park Milwaukee satellite view,” “Milwaukee deaths last night,” and “Milwaukee deaths in the river,” turned up following a search of the suspects’ cellphones.
Also, a photo of Puga was found on one of the phones, copied from the Green Bay Police Department’s social media page, asking for the public’s help locating him.
The complaint states that, according to Brud, she and Guyton-Denn were dating and he “wanted revenge” on Puga over a dispute.
Brud was told by Guyton-Denn to bring Puga to Milwaukee, which she did.
Prosecutors say that she did that knowing that he would be beaten.
The complaint reads that Puga was beaten near the river and forced to get undressed before being tossed in.
The complaint also states that Brud was instructed to take Puga’s clothes to Green Bay and burn them.
Leitner and Guyton-Denn will be sentenced on May 2 after they were convicted of reckless homicide.
Schultz remains at large and has not been arrested.
