By Shereen Siewert
A trial is underway for the 26-year-old man accused of fatally shooting a Wausau woman at a northwest side apartment, with jury selection now complete.
Umberto Lo faces charges filed in March 2021 in Marathon County Circuit Court of first-degree intentional homicide by use of a dangerous weapon in connection with the shooting death of Mai Rue “Lily” Vang.
Vang was fatally shot in the early morning hours of March 21, 2021 at an apartment in the 1300 block of North 9th Avenue.
Police say Lo, shortly after the shooting, sent a photo of Vang that showed a gunshot wound to her head to a family member via Facebook messenger. Two children were in the home at the time of the shooting, prosecutors said.
The charges against Lo carry a domestic abuse repeater enhancer, which can amplify the penalties if he is found guilty. Five counts of bail jumping were also filed against Lo, who has a long history of domestic abuse-related charges involving the alleged victim in the case, court records show. Lo pleaded guilty to the bail jumping charges last week.
Court records show Lo was arrested in February 2019 and convicted two months later on charges of disorderly conduct with a domestic abuse modifier after an attack on the same victim. A charge of battery was dismissed as part of a plea agreement and Lo was placed on probation for 18 months.
Then in April 2020, while still on probation, Lo was arrested on a new domestic abuse-related charge. He was released on bond with a condition not to contact the woman. But in September, 2020 he was arrested and charged again, this time with strangulation/suffocation, battery, disorderly conduct and bail jumping. Initially, he was held on a larger cash bond. One month later, his attorney successfully petitioned Circuit Judge Mike Moran to convert the cash to a signature bond, paving the way for Lo’s release – again with a requirement not to contact the victim.
Though the no-contact order was non waiveable, it wasn’t long before Lo was arrested again. In December 2020, Lo faced new bail jumping charges and was released on a $500 bond after another incident. And 12 days later, after another allegedly violent encounter, Lo faced new bail jumping and disorderly conduct charges. Circuit Judge LaMont Jacobson ordered a $2,500 bond with the first $500 in cash. That was enough to keep Lo in jail until Jan. 12, when he paid the cash and walked out of the Marathon County Courthouse a free man.
The order not to contact Vang remained in place and was still in effect on March 7, when Lo was arrested yet again. On March 8, Lo was charged with five counts of bail jumping and Judge Jacobson set a $2,000 cash bond. Lo paid the bond March 10.
Eleven days later, the alleged victim in all six cases was dead.
In September 2021, Circuit Judge Mike Moran ruled Lo competent to stand trial after hearing the results of an inpatient evaluation ordered by the court and requested by Lo’s attorney.
Jury selection took nearly six hours on Monday with a panel chosen and sworn in just before 4 p.m. Wausau Pilot intentionally held publishing a story about the trial until a jury was chosen to avoid a potentially tainted pool.
Opening statements are slated for Tuesday. Lo remains behind bars.
