By Shereen Siewert
A 27-year-old man accused of fatally shooing a woman Tuesday in Merrill is being held on a $25,000 cash bond, as he faces two felony charges.
Tanner Graap was charged Jan. 19 in Lincoln County Circuit Court with homicide by negligent handling of a dangerous weapon and possessing a firearm as a convicted felon. He remains in custody as of Wednesday afternoon.
Merrill police say Graap accidentally shot the woman at about 11 a.m. Tuesday at a home in the 200 block of E. Fifth Street. The woman was unresponsive when rescue crews arrived and was later pronounced dead at an area hospital, police said.
Court documents allege Graap was using heroin the morning of the shooting. In an interview with investigators, Graap allegedly said he was trying to put the gun in a coat pocket when he ran into a door frame. Then, he said, the gun went off.
Graap has multiple prior convictions including 10 separate felony cases and in Aug. 2020 was sentenced to a year in prison followed by a year of extended supervision. Because of his felony convictions he is not permitted to own or carry a gun.
Wisconsin Prison System records show Graap was released from a supervised living facility just two months before the shooting and was on extended supervision at the time of his arrest.
A status hearing is set for March 16. The victim’s name has not yet been publicly released.
