Suspect in death at Green Bay prison charged with homicide, hate crime

September 5, 2024

Jackson Vogel allegedly told a corrections officer that he killed his cellmate “because [the cellmate] is Black and gay,” according to a statement in a criminal complaint filed Thursday.

Vogel, 24, has been charged with homicide with hate crime and repeat offender penalties after Micah Laureano, his cellmate, died last week at Green Bay Correctional Institution (GBCI).

The complaint includes information from corrections officers and Sergeant Justin Raska of the Brown County Sheriff’s Office. Raska said Vogel admitted to carrying out the homicide because he was bored, because of the victim’s race and sexual orientation, and because the victim was a “potential child molester.”

Raska said he asked Vogel when he first thought he was going to or wanted to kill the victim, and Vogel allegedly replied it was the first day he met him. The sheriff’s office said the two were in the same cell for only hours before the incident.

A corrections officer discovered the death of Laureano, 19, while conducting a routine count. The officer found a pink piece of paper and Vogel’s body blocking the view from the window on the cell door. Beth Hardtke, communications director of the Wisconsin Department of Corrections, told the Examiner that Vogel and Laureano were in temporary lockup status.

A doctor from the Brown County Medical Examiner’s Office conducted an autopsy and reported that the preliminary cause of death was a homicide due to asphyxia due to ligature strangulation. Evidence found in the cell included cloth material that is believed to have been around Laureano’s neck, as well as a note that said “Kill all humans!” and slurs toward Black and gay people.

Vogel was previously found guilty of attempted first-degree intentional homicide, the Wisconsin Examiner reported, while Laureano was found guilty of taking and driving a vehicle without consent and as party to a crime for substantial battery intending bodily harm, robbery with use of force and first-degree recklessly endangering safety.

Vogel remains in restrictive custody at GBCI, the Brown County Sheriff’s Office said Thursday. Captain Jody Lemmens of the sheriff’s office said the investigation is not yet complete.

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