Body found in Little Suamico in February was gunshot victim

Green Bay man charged with driving victim to remote area, killing him
By: 
Warren Bluhm
Editor-in-chief

A Green Bay man has been arrested in connection with the death of a man whose body was found in an isolated area of Little Suamico in February.

A first-degree intentional homicide charge was filed June 7 in Oconto County Circuit Court against Manuel Antonio Herrera-Hernandez, 32.

Herrera-Hernandez was charged May 20 with two counts of felony bail jumping but had yet to make an initial court appearance on those charges. He was already scheduled to stand trial in November on 2020 charges of possession with intent to deliver methamphetamine, felony bail jumping and misdemeanor possession of THC and drug paraphernalia. He had been free after posting $25,000 cash bond in the earlier case.

A man’s body was found the morning of Feb. 22 in the parking area of the Green Bay Shores State Wildlife Area on Lade Beach Road in the Town of Little Suamico. He had been shot several times, Sheriff Todd Skarban said in a news release. No weapon was found at the scene.

The body had no identification, but he had a cellphone in his pocket. A search warrant was obtained and a search of the phone led to the man being identified. Skarban and the criminal complaint refer to the victim as MGP, a 35-year-old African-American or Hispanic man, and an autopsy confirmed he died of multiple gunshot wounds.

“Throughout the course of the investigation, it was determined that on Sunday Feb. 21, MGP left a residence in the 1100 block of Walnut Street in the city of Green Bay,” Skarban said. “Witnesses indicated MGP left voluntarily with an unknown individual. Witnesses indicated after leaving the residence MGP did not return, and no one had any other contact with him.”

Law enforcement teams conducted numerous interviews, executed numerous search warrants, and continued with the follow-up investigation, Skarban said.

The break in the case came May 17, when Herrera-Hernandez and a 30-year-old woman identified as MV were arrested during a traffic stop in the city of Green Bay. The May 20 criminal complaint indicates that 44.71 grams of fentanyl and 360.93 grams of methamphetamine were seized from the car.

During the initial interview with MV, she told investigators that Herrera-Hernandez admitted to her that he had shot and killed MGP, according to the homicide complaint. In a follow-up interview, she said that she and Herrera-Hernandez had picked up MGP from a residence on Walnut Street in Green Bay and they drove to a secluded area where Herrera-Hernandez shot and killed MGP, then drove away.

Investigators interviewed Herrera-Hernandez May 19, and he said he picked up MGP with MV and drove to the wildlife area, where the two men argued and MGP tried to take the gun away. During the ensuing fight he said “the gun just went off,” according to the criminal complaint. They left the victim lying on the ground “in pain,” the complaint said.

“Herrera-Hernandez said that MGP had his phone with him so he could call 911,” the complaint said.

The complaint was filed late Monday afternoon, and Herrera-Hernandez likely will make an initial court appearance on the homicide charge June 15.

Skarban credited a number of agencies for helping the investigation, including the Wisconsin Department of Justice Division of Criminal Investigation, State Crime Lab, Green Bay Police Department, Brown County Sheriff’s Office and its Drug Task Force, Shawano County Sheriff’s Office, Shawano Police Department, Waupaca County Sheriff’s Office, Clintonville Police Department, Oconto County District Attorney’s Office, Brown County Medical Examiner’s Office, and the Dane County Medical Examiner’s Office.