GREENFIELD — The family of a man murdered in an unprovoked stabbing six years ago in Greenfield says they were blindsided when they learned the alleged killer is back on the streets.
24-year-old Amando Lang was charged with first-degree intentional homicide in 2019, but the case never went to trial because he was deemed mentally incompetent.
Just like the Greenfield Police Department and the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office, Ben Christianson’s brother tells TMJ4 his family had no clue Lang was living in a group home on Milwaukee’s south side and was ‘free to come and go as he pleases’, as stated in a police report.
“We really want to know who allowed this to happen," Jay Christianson said.
49-year-old Ben Christianson was collecting soil samples on the side of a Greenfield road in 2019 when prosecutors say then-19-year-old Lang stabbed Christianson to death.
Lang was seen on home surveillance walking to and from the area of the crime scene before he was arrested.
After being found mentally incompetent, court records show Lang was sent to Mendota Mental Health Institute.
Greenfield police tell TMJ4 they didn’t learn until Sunday that he was back in the community. That’s when officers responded to a mental health crisis for Lang at his mother’s apartment on Father’s Day, according to a police report.
In an off-camera call, Christianson’s brother told TMJ4, “We were blindsided. We didn’t know and no one knew until the police found him.”
“He’s able to visit his mother while Ben never can?” Jay Christianson went on to say.
Christianson’s brother says his family still doesn’t know when Lang was released from a secure facility and who made that decision.
County Supervisor Kathleen Vincent is on a mission to answer those questions.
“I’ve spent the last couple of days just making phone calls,” she said. “Everyone's saying, ‘Well, we weren't told, we weren't told.’ Somebody made a decision at some point."
A court order obtained by TMJ4 that dates back to September 2020 says the DA’s office has to be notified, “at least 14 days prior to transferring or discharging {Lang} from an inpatient treatment facility.”
Prosecutors say that never happened.
Wisconsin’s Department of Health Services tells TMJ4, “Courts and counties, not the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, are responsible for determining the status of individuals who are subject to the criminal justice system and the civil mental health system.”
The Milwaukee County Mental Health Board has yet to respond to TMJ4’s inquiry.
“Do you feel like the person who made the decision needs to be held accountable?” Jordan asked.
"Absolutely.,” Vincent replied. “This breakdown needs to be fixed. This cannot happen.”
The DA’s office called an emergency hearing for Monday to address this situation. Prosecutors say they will ask for Lang’s competency to be re-evaluated in an effort to hold him criminally responsible for the 2019 stabbing.
Unless Lang is deemed mentally competent at an upcoming hearing, the DA’s office says Lang will remain in the community for treatment.
TMJ4 reached Lang’s mother by phone on Thursday, but she declined to comment on the matter.
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