Restorative Justice Leads to Felony Murder Plea after Teen Son’s Death

In December 2012, three men in a suburban Milwaukee convenience store, Robert W. Beringer, Jesse R. Cole, and Mario Laumann, pinned down 16-year-old Corey Stingley to the point of asphyxiation and a traumatic brain injury, killing him over $12 worth of alcohol.

Suspecting the teen of shoplifting bottles of Smirnoff, the men – none with the legal authority to detain Stingley – restrained him with such force that he died. At the time, ProPublica reports, the prosecutor declined charging the three white men with the Black teen’s death, claiming it was not their intent to kill Stingley. But ever since, the teen’s father, Craig, has been relentless in his pursuit of justice. 

Last week, Craig’s efforts to compel recognition of Corey’s death as unlawful – a crime – bore fruit. Following a process of restorative justice with the Stingley family, including extensive, supervised, face-to-face discussion, Beringer and Cole pleaded guilty to felony murder in a deferred prosecution agreement allowing them to remain free but take responsibility for their part in Corey’s death. In addition, Beringer and Cole must make a one-time $500 donation each to a charity chosen by the Stingley family, in honor of Corey. 

As long as neither man commits any other crimes over the next six months, prosecutors will dismiss the case against them. Prosecutors added that they’d have likely pursued prison time for Mario Laumann, were he still alive, for being the one who actually “strangled Corey Stingley to death,” in District Attorney Ismael Ozanne’s words. Laumann died in 2022. 

Corey’s father, Craig, called the conclusion to his 13-year cry for justice a “triumph.” “We sought not vengeance, but acknowledgement – of Corey’s life, his humanity, and the depth of our loss,” the Stingley family said in a statement. “We believe this agreement honors Corey’s memory and offers a model of how people can come together, even after profound harm, to seek understanding and healing.” 

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