Cellmate is suspect in death of man incarcerated at Green Bay prison

The Brown County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the death of a man who was incarcerated at the Green Bay Correctional Institution.

Officers responded to the maximum-security prison shortly after 9:30 p.m. Tuesday and found 19-year-old Micah Laureano dead at the scene. 

The death is being investigated as a homicide and Laureano’s 24-year-old cellmate is a suspect, according to the sheriff’s office.

No staff members were injured and normal operations are continuing at the prison following the incident, according to a spokesperson for Wisconsin’s Department of Corrections. 

More than 1,000 men are incarcerated at Green Bay Correctional, making it over capacity by about 300 people, according to the latest DOC data.

The prison opened in Allouez more than a century ago in 1898. For years, local officials and state lawmakers who represent the region have been calling for the aging facility to be shut down while raising alarm bells about the safety of inmates and staff.

In June of last year, DOC officials cited safety concerns and began restricting the activities of Green Bay inmates, under what’s colloquially known as a lockdown. The last of those restrictions ended late last month.

Currently, close to 12 percent of correctional officer and sergeant positions are unfilled at Green Bay, which is roughly in line with the average vacancy rate at Wisconsin’s adult prisons, according to the latest DOC data.

When the lockdown began, close to 40 percent of those positions were vacant at the Green Bay prison.