Criminal complaint filed for hate crime enhancement in connection with death of 19-year-old inmate at GBCI

ALLOUEZ, Wis. (WBAY) – Brown County prosecutors have filed charges against an inmate at the Green Bay Correctional Institution in the death of his cellmate.

Jackson Vogel, 24, is now charged with first-degree intentional murder and, among other things, promoting a hate crime in connection with the death of 19-year-old Micah Laureano.

According to the criminal complaint filed Thursday morning, Vogel and Laureano shared a cell at Green Bay Correctional for just a few hours before the attack.

On Tuesday, August 27, an officer approached the cell at around 9:30 p.m. He found that the view inside was blocked by paper in front of the window and Vogel. When the officer asked to look inside, Laureano was found strangled.

The officer says Vogel admitted to beating Laureano unconscious and then killing her. The criminal complaint also suggests Vogel used Laureano’s sexual orientation and race as a reason for the crime.

Vogel remains detained in a restricted area.

UPDATE: The autopsy of 19-year-old Micah Laureano has been completed and the cause of death has been released, according to the Brown County Sheriff’s Office.

According to the coroner, Laureano died of homicide by strangulation or asphyxiation.

The Brown County Sheriff’s Office says the suspect, 24-year-old Jackson Vogel, and Laureano had shared a cell for just a few hours before the incident.

The investigation is ongoing and the sheriff’s office expects formal charges to be filed late next week.

The death of a 19-year-old inmate at the Green Bay Correctional Institution is being investigated as a homicide, the Brown County Sheriff’s Office said.

The sheriff’s office was called at 9:35 p.m. Tuesday night for an inmate who had no pulse and was not breathing. The inmate, Micah Laureano, was pronounced dead at the scene.

The sheriff’s office said the victim and the suspect, 24-year-old Jackson Vogel, were cellmates.

Online court records show Vogel was in prison in Manitowoc County on a charge of attempted first-degree intentional murder. He was convicted in 2017.

The investigators are not releasing any further information at this time.

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