A Milwaukee County jury needed just 25 minutes to convict 45-year-old Gregory Hamilton of felony murder-armed robbery in the shooting death of Cory Fritz, a 33-year-old Appleton man who was set up during what prosecutors say was supposed to be a simple sale of weed edibles. The verdict came after a four-day trial that laid out how a planned drug transaction near 43rd and Good Hope on Milwaukee's northwest side turned into a fatal ambush in March 2025.
According to FOX6 News Milwaukee, prosecutors say Hamilton arranged for Fritz to sell him weed products but intentionally set him up for an armed robbery that turned deadly. Fritz was shot in the head during a struggle, per prosecutors, and later died at Froedtert Hospital on March 3, 2025. Hamilton, prosecutors said, then told a neighbor that Fritz had hit his head on a mailbox rather than reveal the shooting, according to the outlet's reporting.
A Neighbor's Help Came Too Late
A neighbor near the scene parked Fritz's truck on his own property and helped put Fritz inside it, the station's report states, unaware of what had actually happened. That delay in getting Fritz proper medical attention became central to how the case was viewed in court. During initial court appearances in March 2025, Milwaukee County Circuit Court Commissioner Andrew Bolender said that calling the case a robbery gone wrong “scratches the surface,” and suggested Fritz might have survived had emergency medical services been called immediately after the shooting, according to a public account of the hearing.
Fritz survived for roughly a day before he died. Milwaukee County Assistant District Attorney Karine O'Byrne told the court that Hamilton had arranged the meeting only to set Fritz up, per the same public account of the March 2025 hearing.
Surveillance Video and Phone Records Built the Case
Investigators leaned heavily on surveillance video to piece together the sequence of events surrounding the drug-deal setup near 43rd and Good Hope, per the FOX6 report. That footage showed 43-year-old Travis Cooper, identified by prosecutors as Hamilton's best friend and the designated stick-up man, circling the neighborhood while he waited and later buying a drink at a gas station. Phone calls between Hamilton and Cooper ultimately tipped off investigators to their connection, the outlet reported.
A search of Cooper's home turned up drugs and Fritz's duffle bag, according to court filings cited by the station. Cooper was charged with felony murder and pleaded guilty in January, resolving his case ahead of Hamilton's trial and setting up a joint sentencing date for both men.
Sentencing Looms Under Wisconsin's Felony Murder Law
Hamilton and Cooper are scheduled to be sentenced next Thursday, August 20. Under Wisconsin Statute § 940.03, a felony murder conviction allows judges to add up to 15 years of imprisonment on top of the maximum term for the underlying felony. Armed robbery under Statute § 943.32(2) is a Class C felony in Wisconsin, carrying a maximum sentence of up to 40 years in prison and fines of up to $100,000, according to legal analysis of the state's sentencing statutes. That combination means both men could face decades behind bars.
Fritz's family pushed for accountability well before the verdict came down. Following his initial court appearances, the family launched a public letter-writing campaign asking the presiding judge to maintain or increase Hamilton's $150,000 bail, according to public statements shared by the family on Facebook. Hamilton remained in custody through his conviction this month.
The Human Cost Behind the Case
Cory Fritz died at Froedtert Hospital, where his family honored his final wish to become an organ donor through Versiti, according to an obituary published by Wichmann Funeral Homes. The Appleton resident was remembered for enjoying LEGO building and Star Wars. Recreational cannabis and THC edibles remain illegal for commercial sale or personal possession under Wisconsin law, a legal gap that law enforcement often links to armed robbery setups like the one that led to Fritz's death, per the same public account referencing state law.
Homicides Dip in Milwaukee After a Rough 2025
Fritz was killed during a year when Milwaukee's homicide count ticked upward. The city recorded 141 homicides in 2025, up slightly from 132 in 2024, pushing its homicide rate to 24.3 per 100,000 residents even as homicides declined across the rest of Wisconsin, according to data compiled by the Badger Institute. That trend has since reversed: Milwaukee Police Department records show a 30 percent reduction in citywide homicides during the first half of 2026, with 49 victims compared to 70 during the same period the year before, alongside a 98 percent homicide clearance rate.
This case is not the only one Hoodline has covered involving a deadly Milwaukee drug-deal setup. Earlier this year, Hoodline reported on a Kenosha man's fatal drug deal on the city's northwest side, another case that followed a similar pattern of a late-night meetup turning violent. With Hamilton's conviction now secured, attention turns to next Thursday, when both he and Cooper will learn how much of Wisconsin's felony murder penalty they will actually serve.
