Courts

Tomah sentenced to 2 years on charges related to shooting death at La Crosse apartments near Gundersen

Published

10 months ago

December 15, 2023

A 19-year-old man from Tomah is sentenced to 2 years in prison, as a result of a fatal shooting near Gundersen Medical Center in La Crosse last year.

Sage Hicke was sentenced on Friday for intimidating a witness, and felony possession of a firearm. A homicide charge against Hicke was previously dismissed in a plea agreement.

Sage Hicke is sentenced by Judge Elliott Levine in La Crosse, in connection with the 2022 shooting death of Storm Vondrashek

Hicke has argued that he shot teenagers Storm Vondrashek and Jackson Greengrass in self-defense, because they were coming to shoot him over a dispute. Vondrashek died in the shooting outside a 7th Street apartment building on May 22nd, 2022, and Greengrass was shot in the foot.

Jail time served by Hicke will be counted toward his sentence of 2 years in prison, followed by 4 years of extended supervision. He was given credit for 209 days served in the county jail.

FILE – Flower set outside apartments on 7th Street South in La Crosse, where Storm Vondrashek was killed in a shootout May 22, 2022.

Judge Elliott Levine told Hicke that a prison sentence was aimed at protecting the public. The judge said Hicke had made a “grave and horrible decision” to shoot at Vondrashek and Greengrass, and he criticized the country’s “weird fascination with guns.”

Prosecutor Jessica Skemp said everybody involved in the shooting incident should get blame for it, and all of them were “acting inappropriately.” Defense attorney Andrew Martinez said that Hicke wanted to prevent risk to others in the apartment building when he saw Vondrashek and Greengrass carrying weapons.

Brad Williams

A native of Prairie du Chien, Brad graduated from UW - La Crosse and has worked in radio news for more than 30 years, mostly in the La Crosse area. He regularly covers local courts and city and county government. Brad produces the features "Yesterday in La Crosse" and "What's Buried on Brad's Desk." He also writes the website "Triviazoids," which finds odd connections between events that happen on a certain date, and he writes and performs with the local comedy group Heart of La Crosse. Brad been featured on several national TV programs because of his memory skills.