Ramone Waupoose (Brown Co. Jail)
GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — A decision on whether the prosecution of Ramone Waupoose — who allegedly tried to kill his mother with a hedge trimmer because she deleted rap videos on his phone — will remain in adult court or move to juvenile court was postponed Monday.
Waupoose, now 17, is charged with attempted first-degree intentional homicide and first-degree reckless injury for the July 16 attack in Suamico.
In Wisconsin, those between 10 and 16 years old facing most homicide-related counts are charged in adult court, not juvenile court. However, Waupoose’s defense invoked a mechanism to request his case be moved to juvenile court. Such requests are not automatic and require a judge’s approval. It’s referred to as a reverse waiver hearing.
While 17-year-olds are charged in adult court, Waupoose was charged when he was 16. At a previous hearing, the court and attorneys agreed the reverse waiver could continue into Monday, even though he had already turned 17 on May 2, as some services offered in the juvenile system would still be available.
Testimony was expected Monday, but defense attorney Michael Crosby said his expert’s report wasn’t completed.
Judge Beau Liegeois agreed to postpone the hearing to Aug. 14, but noted his concern with the delay, given that Waupoose’s age is one of the issues under consideration.
“The longer is gets adjourned, the more his age becomes a relevant factor in the analysis,” the judge said.
According to the criminal complaint, a woman called police because her son, who she described as autistic, had attacked her. Knowing he may be upset, and for his protection, the woman had taken all of the knives out of the house and put them in her car.
“Ramone was [super uber uber] pissed that he was snatched back after running away. He was also mad that I had deleted rap videos off of his YouTube. He went to bed Monday night and I was on his phone trying to figure out the parental controls. He came up and grabbed the phone from my hands and went to lock himself in his room downstairs,” the woman’s statement says. “Ramone went back to his room and I again texted him about going to eat and asked if he was going to come. He replied back ‘no’. I told him to not leave the house and I monitored him through the cameras. I could tell that he was very angry. When he ate he was pacing like a caged tiger. His behavior got creepier after we got home then started to gather up all the knives, any sharp kitchen utensils or anything sharp. I also took the drill, hammers and screw drivers and locked them in my car,” the complaint states.
“I watched the cameras and saw Ramone go to the garage and was searching for something. He was looking around the toolbox and a mattress that was leaned up next to it. His whole behavior really freaked me out. The sheers he found must have been behind the mattress. At this time I was more concerned that Ramone was going to hurt himself than us. I never thought he would run away, much less attack us,” it adds.
After the lights starting turning on and off in the house, the woman found Waupoose by the power box. He allegedly called her names and attacked her with the pruning shears. She said she used a garbage can to defend herself before she escaped. The woman was bleeding from the face and suffered injuries on her head, face, arms and back, authorities said. Police located two-foot pruning shears at the scene.
Police also recovered Waupoose’s phone and found messages describing his plans to kill his mother and messages threatening to “kill and gut his ex-girlfriend,” the complaint states.
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