Cellmate is a suspect in connection with the death of a man incarcerated in 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.

On Tuesday, officers arrived at the maximum security prison shortly after 9:30 p.m. 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.

According to a Wisconsin Department of Corrections spokesman, no staff members were injured and prison operations are continuing as normal following the incident.

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

The prison opened in Allouez over a century ago in 1898. For years, local officials and state lawmakers representing the region have called for the closure of the aging facility and raised alarms about the safety of inmates and staff.

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

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

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