More than 13 years after a 16-year-old boy died from a lack of oxygen after three men believed he shoplifted and held him down in a West Allis corner store, a special prosecutor has filed felony murder charges.
The charges in Corey Stingley’s death come after years of tireless advocacy from Stingley’s father after then-District Attorney John Chisholm declined to pursue criminal charges.
Robert Beringer, 67, of Menomonee Falls, and Jesse Cole, 39, are charged with felony murder in the West Allis teenager’s death. The third man involved, Mario Lauman, died in the years that followed. Felony murder is a lesser charge than reckless homicide or intentional homicide.
Stingley’s death came over two weeks after the three men held him down in the West Allis business. It was ruled he died from positional asphyxia, or a lack of oxygen, that led to brain damage and death.
Stingley was held down by the men between six to 10 minutes, according to the criminal complaint.
Anthony Cotton, who is representing Beringer, said Craig Stingley and the men have agreed to a deferred prosecution agreement in the case, which means the charges will be dropped if certain conditions are met. It’s expected that agreement will move forward at a Jan. 15 initial court appearance for the men.
Those conditions include a donation in memory of Stingley, pending court approval.
“Ultimately it’s in everyone’s interest to bring closure to something that’s been so painful,” Cotton told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Craig Stingley did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but in an interview with ProPublica he discussed the details of the agreement and other actions they have undertaken together.
Among those is participation in Marquette Law School’s restorative justice program, Cotton said. That involves the men going through several meetings to prepare for meeting one another and, ultimately, doing so.
An attorney for Cole declined to comment.
Stingley’s death, and the decision by Chisholm to not press charges, prompted protests in the city at the time. That decision was made in 2014. Chisholm said the three men had no intent to harm Stingley when they restrained him nor were aware their actions created a substantial and unreasonable risk of great bodily harm.
In the years since, it was pointed to as a regular criticism of Chisholm and was evoked as a comparison in the death of D’vontaye Mitchell, who died under similar circumstances in 2024 at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Milwaukee.
Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne filed the charges against Beringer and Cole. He was appointed as a special prosecutor after Craig Stingley filed for the case to be reassessed, following repeated attempts to do so, according to ProPublica.
Ozanne declined to comment on the case.
“I think it’s been difficult on everybody,” the attorney Cotton said. “It’s just a really tragic situation that never should’ve happened.”
David Clarey is a public safety reporter at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. He can be reached at dclarey@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: 13 years later, two men charged in 2012 death of Corey Stingley
Reporting by David Clarey, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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