UPDATE: Teen Boys Charged As Adults
Cheyenne police have arrested two teenage males in the April 30 homicide of a 15-year-old girl, who died of a gunshot wound to her head, the department announced Tuesday.
The girl survived for a few hours at the hospital after sustaining the gunshot wound in the middle of the night, but she died the day after she was shot.
Police believe the girl died in a drive-by shooting involving an SUV that fled the scene.
Cheyenne Police Department detectives partnered with the U.S. Marshals Service Fugitive Task Force to arrest two male teens.
One is a 17-year-old male, for whom police recommend charges of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder.
The other teen is 16 and charged with conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and aiding and abetting first-degree murder, says a statement the police department released Tuesday evening.
Agents took both males to the Laramie County Juvenile Detention Center on Tuesday without incident.
The girl was playing basketball with friends when someone from an SUV gunned her down, police believe.
"A group of individuals — friends and family members of the victim — were at Lincoln Park playing basketball together at the time of the shooting," the statement says. "According to statements, an SUV was traveling west on East 7th Street, driving past the park. While the vehicle was driving by, multiple shots were fired, and the SUV fled from the scene."
The case remains under investigation, says the statement.
Because the teens were minors during the alleged homicide, they will not face the death penalty if convicted.
However, they could still face life in prison, because conspiracy to commit a homicide is punished the same way a homicide would be.
Clair McFarland may be reached at: Clair@CowboyStateDaily.com
