The trial of a man accused of shooting a Green Bay man and leaving him to die in a remote area of Little Suamico has been rescheduled until this summer.
Manuel Antonio Herrera-Hernandez, 36, was scheduled to stand trial beginning Jan. 27, but the trial was postponed until July 29 during a telephone scheduling conference Jan. 2, according to online court records.
Prosecutors argued that a so-called Daubert hearing is necessary to determine if an expert witness may appropriately be called at the trial, and that issue cannot be resolved before the January trial date. Defense attorneys argued they were ready to proceed on Jan. 27, but Judge Michael Judge agreed to move the trial date. The Daubert hearing will be scheduled in the near future.
A man’s body was found the morning of Feb. 22, 2021, 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.
The victim 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. The criminal complaint refers to the victim as MGP, a 35-year-old African-American or Hispanic man, and an autopsy confirmed he died of multiple gunshot wounds.
The break in the case came three months later, when Herrera-Hernandez and a 30-year-old woman identified as MV were arrested during a traffic stop in Green Bay. The 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 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 on May 19, 2021, 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.
Herrera-Hernandez remains in custody in lieu of $2 million bail. The case attracted some political attention after then-U.S. Rep. Mike Gallagher said the suspect should never have been in America in the first place, citing reports he was an deported as an illegal alien in 2013 and charged with illegal reentry in 2018.
At the time of the murder, Herrera-Hernandez was free after posting bail on felony charges of possession with intent to deliver amphetamine and bail jumping and misdemeanor counts of possession of THC and possession of drug paraphernalia. Those charges are also part of the upcoming trial.
wbluhm@newmedia-wi.com
Homicide trial postponed to July
