Local News
Fights break out at Fond du Lac City County Government Center during sentencing of homicide suspect
On Friday, December 19, 2025, Fond du Lac County Circuit Court Judge Laura Lavey was presiding over the sentencing hearing of Parise Larry Jr., who was convicted in October of first degree intentional homicide and other charges related to the May 7th, 2023, shooting at Maplewood Commons in the city of Fond du Lac.
At 10:24 a.m., family and friends of both the defendant and victims who were present in the public gallery of the courtroom engaged in a verbal altercation, and within seconds the confrontation became physical and involved numerous individuals.
Judge Lavey immediately adjourned the hearing and the defendant and judge exited the courtroom, attorneys and court staff moved to a safer location, and sheriff’s deputies and Fond du Lac police officers worked to regain control of the crowd.
The group dispersed into the public hallways of the courthouse, and due to the nature of the altercation and dispersal through the building of those involved, in conjunction with a larger crowd still remaining in the courtroom, additional deputies and officers were requested to respond to the courthouse.
Several minutes after the situation was stabilized and individuals involved in the first altercation were separated and escorted away, a second physical confrontation ensued among individuals still in the courtroom.
An adult female was ultimately arrested for disorderly conduct and escorted and booked into jail. Additional individuals were subsequently escorted from the building.
As the initial disturbance spilled into the public hallways outside the courtroom, yelling and other noise directly affected other court proceedings that were occurring in three other courtrooms. One of those hearings was just concluding and the judge adjourned and left the bench, a second judge was forced to pause their hearing until the situation was stabilized, and a third hearing was suspended and that courtroom locked down to keep everyone safe inside.
During the 30 minutes following the first series of disturbances, some individuals who had left the courthouse lingered and occasionally engaged in verbal confrontation in the north parking lot of the City County Government Center. Additional deputies and officers who were already present to monitor the crowd leaving ultimately arrested an adult male who, through investigation, had been identified as an instigator from the initial disorderly conduct within the courthouse.
He was also arrested for resisting arrest in the parking lot, as he refused to follow commands of police officers and struggled with them during the arrest. He was also escorted and booked into jail.
In response to the outbursts, a total of approximately 25 law enforcement officers responded, including all available deputies, supervisors, and detectives in the sheriff’s office and all available police officers and supervisors from the Fond du Lac Police Department.
Judge Lavey adjourned the sentencing hearing for an hour and a half until full order was restored, investigations completed, and the court could safely reconvene.
This court delay resulted in an additional hour and a half delay to the next sentencing hearing, originally scheduled for 1:00pm, of Antonio Johnston, the other suspect convicted for his role in the deadly shooting.
Both sentencing hearings remained peaceful in the afternoon.
The following is a link to security video of the incident. This was taken from the Fond du Lac County Sheriff’s Office Facebook, so you will likely need to be logged into Facebook to see it.