Jackson Vogel is suspected in the Aug. 27, 2024 death of a cellmate at Green Bay Correctional Institution. (Photo source: Wisconsin Department of Corrections)
BROWN COUNTY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — Investigators are recommending an inmate suspected of strangling his cellmate be charged with homicide as a hate crime.
The Brown County Sheriff’s Office said Thursday it was recommending criminal charges in connection with the Aug. 27 death of Micah Laureano at Green Bay Correctional Institution.
Investigators are recommending Laureano’s cellmate, Jackson Vogel, be charged with first-degree intentional homicide and suffocation/strangulation. Prosecutors are expected to add a hate crime enhancer, the sheriff’s office said.
No motive was released and investigators have not said why a hate crime enhancer would be added. Laureano was Black and Hispanic; Vogel is white, according to the initial news release from the sheriff’s office.
Online court records indicate no charges have been filed as of Thursday morning.
According to the initial release, Laureano and Vogel “had occupied the same cell for only hours before the incident.”
Laureano, 19, was sentenced to a year in prison in January on a substantial battery charge from Waukesha County, court records show. After Laureano’s admission into the prison sentence, he was transferred in to GBCI on April 12, prison records state.
Vogel, 24, is serving a 20-year sentence for attempted homicide in Manitowoc County for stabbing his mother. He arrived at GBCI in June.
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