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[{"type":"text","text":"Much better than an alarm clock...."}]

Smile 6 14 24

Cowboy State Daily is Wyoming’s largest newspaper with Wyoming’s most experienced journalists. 

<title>Daily Smile: Friday, June 14, 2024 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Much better than an alarm clock....

Daily Smile: Friday, June 14, 2024

Kolby fedore

Kolby Fedore

Crime & Courts

Nearly two months after 26-year-old Ashley Rose Jackson was fatally shot during a child custody exchange in Casper, many questions about what happened remain unanswered.

The Casper Police Department told Cowboy State Daily on Thursday that the investigation into the May 15 shooting remains active. Because the case has not been closed, police said they are not yet able to release investigative records or discuss additional details.

On the night of the shooting, police said officers responded to the 400 block of East 15th Street for reports of gunfire and found two people dead: Jackson and 28-year-old Ethen Christopher Short, the father of her 3-year-old son, Will.

Investigators described it as a domestic incident involving two adults who knew each other and said the alleged shooter was also found dead at the scene.

[{"type":"text","text":"Jackson's death certificate lists her manner of death as homicide."}]

While investigators continue their work, Jackson's family says they hope Wyoming remembers the person she was before the tragedy.

Cowboy State Daily also reached out to Short's mother to offer her an opportunity to comment but did not receive a response.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Devoted Mother First"}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Jackson was born in Casper in 1999 and spent her entire life in Wyoming."}]

She graduated from Natrona County High School and, according to her mother, Shannon Clark, found the two passions that defined her life: her son, Will, and photography.

"She wanted to be his mommy more than anything in the world," Clark said.

Jackson built Wildflower Lens Jackson Photography with the dream of making family photography affordable. She photographed weddings, maternity sessions, newborns and even Rainbow Bridge sessions for families preparing to say goodbye to beloved pets.

Photography wasn't simply a business. Clark said Jackson hoped it would someday allow her to work around Will's schedule and even homeschool him.

When photography alone wasn't enough to pay the bills, Jackson went to work as a server at the 19th Hole while continuing to grow her business.

According to Clark, her daughter had recently gotten back on her feet after separating from Short. She had a vehicle, was renting a home from her parents, had wedding bookings on her calendar and was supporting herself.

[{"type":"text","text":"\"She was making her life happen,\" Clark said."}]

Clark said she still thinks about the Mother's Day just before Jackson died. Her daughter surprised her with a silver cross necklace while wearing the matching gold one herself. Jackson was wearing that necklace when she was killed.

[{"type":"text","text":"\"She was glowing,\" Clark said. \"She had her whole life ahead of her.\""}]

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"'He's Not Going To Do Nothing'"}]

Clark remembers the early years of Jackson's relationship with Short differently than how it ended.

She said the couple appeared happy, looked forward to becoming parents, and celebrated Will's birth in January 2023.

[{"type":"text","text":"Over time, however, Clark said she noticed changes."}]

She described Short as increasingly withdrawn during family gatherings and later became concerned by what she believed was escalating behavior after the couple's breakup.

Clark recounted several incidents she believes marked a turning point, including what she described as a mental-health crisis, allegations that Short peeked through Jackson's windows and disagreements surrounding custody exchanges involving Will.

Cowboy State Daily has requested investigative records related to the case, but because the investigation remains active those records are not available for release.

[{"type":"text","text":"Looking back, Clark said one text message now haunts her."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"\"I told her, 'Please keep your firearm with you',\" she recalled."}]

Jackson replied: "'Mommy, I will. I'm going to be safe. I'm not worried about Ethan. He's not going to do nothing'."

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Final Custody Exchange"}]

On the night of May 15, Jackson and Short met near the Werner Wildlife Museum to exchange custody of their son.

Around 7:20 p.m., Casper police responded to reports of a shooting in the area of East 15th Street between Beech and Lincoln streets. 

Police have not publicly detailed what investigators believe occurred during the final moments before the shooting.

Clark said Jackson's father followed her to the exchange because he had a bad feeling but gave the pair some space. After Jackson arrived, he drove around the block before parking on Beech Street, where he could see the exchange from a distance.

After Jackson got their son buckled in his car seat, Clark said Short began walking toward the boy, and Jackson stepped in front of him, trying to keep him from reaching their son. 

[{"type":"text","text":"Clark said Short then shoved Jackson."}]

"That's when Billy stepped on it" Clark said, talking about Jackson's father. 

By the time he reached the parking lot, "it was too late for Ashley." She said Billy made it to his daughter moments after she was shot and witnessed Short turn the gun on himself.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Jackson's Legacy "}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Clark said the greatest heartbreak now belongs to Jackson's son."}]

She said Will witnessed the shooting and has since reenacted what happened while trying to make sense of it.

During the Fourth of July holiday, Clark said every firecracker caused him to jump because he believed he was hearing gunshots.

[{"type":"text","text":"\"The quiet moments are the hardest,\" Clark said."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Today, Will lives with his grandparents."}]

Clark said raising him the way Jackson wanted has become her family's mission.

Friends and relatives are organizing a memorial golf scramble to benefit Will, and the family hopes to hold a candlelight vigil later this year when Jackson's oldest brother returns to Wyoming.

, a nonprofit initiative she said is being launched by Jackson's brother, Spencer, and family friend Shane Liberda. The organization plans to transform firearms connected to violent crimes into a source of hope by using proceeds to help victims of violence. Jackson and Will are expected to become the organization's first beneficiaries.

 to help provide long-term financial support for Will as he grows up without his parents.

For Clark, though, Jackson's legacy isn't measured by memorials or fundraisers.

It's measured every morning when a little boy wakes up in his grandparents' home.

[{"type":"text","text":"\"I'm raising her son the way she would want,\" Clark said. "}]

Ashley Rose Jackson 103978617 1779381730937021 r 7 9 26

<title>‘Quiet Moments Are The Hardest,’ Mom Says Of Casper Woman Killed By Ex-Boyfriend | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Two months after a Casper woman was killed during a child custody exchange with her ex-boyfriend, her mother says she wants people to know who her daughter was. "The quiet moments are the hardest," she said. "She had her whole life ahead of her."

‘Quiet Moments Are The Hardest,’ Mom Says Of Casper Woman Killed By Ex-Boyfriend

Headshot of Cowboy State Daily's general assignment reporter, Clair McFarland.

Clair McFarland

Government & Politics

Politics

Wyoming’s lone U.S. House representative is demanding answers from Mark Zuckerberg on a Cheyenne-area data center wastewater contamination incident that caused the city’s reuse system to shut down for months.

The Cheyenne Board of Public Utilities (BOPU) issued a public notice June 26 that laboratory staff identified a bacterium, Cupriavaidus gilardii, in a wastewater sampling.

The board on July 2 identified the source of the initial contamination as Goat System LLC — a Meta ​data center company in the development known as Project Cosmo.

That public announcement about the contamination came more than four months after the Meta contractor — which is building an $800million data center in south Cheyenne — disrupted the city’s reclaimed wastewater system with the rare bacterial contaminant.

The board had revoked Goat Systems’ industrial discharge privileges for fill-and-flush operations, and Cheyenne’s reuse water system was taken offline.

U.S. House Rep. Harriet Hageman demanded answers in a Thursday letter to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

“Many are rightfully concerned about high water consumption rates by data centers in our communities where every drop of water is accounted for and needed,” wrote Hageman, “so I am even more concerned that this contamination seemingly came from your facility’s closed-loop cooling system, a technology that is marketed as being a solution to high data center water consumption rates.”

Hageman added that, “Many Wyomingites are also rightfully concerned that they learned about this contamination on June 26 and that the Meta Cheyenne facility was identified as the culprit on July 2nd, when the discharge privileges for Goat Systems was revoked on March 24th.”

New industries seeking to enter small-community Wyoming life can only do so with support from local communities, wrote Hageman, “which is earned built on trust, collaboration and communication with our citizens.

“I am deeply concerned that Meta did not follow this model in this instance.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"She poses five questions to Zuckerberg:"}]

• How did the contamination happen, including from the closed-loop cooling system — and had that happened elsewhere?

• When did the project companies and contractors learn of the issue and what steps did they take to alert the local, state and federal authorities and mitigate the threat

• Where is the facility taking its wastewater now, and how will that prevent threats to Wyoming communities?

[{"type":"text","text":"• Does Meta plan community outreach on this incident?"}]

[{"type":"text","text":"• Can closed-loop cooling systems scale down water consumption safely?"}]

Hageman concluded, “Wyoming deserves information and consultation from the industries which plan to call our state home.”

A Meta spokesperson in a Thursday email reiterated the company's earlier statement on the contamination. 

"Meta is supporting the efforts of our general contractor, Fortis, to resolve this issue with the City of Cheyenne Board of Public Utilities," the statement says. "When the board shared that it found a substance in the city's wastewater — not public drinking water — Fortis immediately stopped discharging industrial wastewater and began hauling it offsite. Fortis also began its own water testing with an independent environmental specialist which has found no trace of the substance."

The statement concludes, "Meta is committed to being a good neighbor in Cheyenne, including through the protection of local water resources, and will continue encouraging collaboration between Fortis and the board until this situation is resolved.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"‘Unpleasant Surprise'"}]

The delay between the contamination and making it public 

Cheyenne City Councilman Pete Laybourn told Cowboy State Daily last week that learning the contamination originated from Meta's data center was unwelcome news.

"It's a very, very unpleasant surprise," Laybourn said. "I have a lot yet to learn. It definitely complicates matters."

Laybourn said he has already expressed concerns about some of the arrangements the city has made with data center operators, adding that he expects the disclosure will prompt additional discussion.

"It's about the last thing we need right now," he said. "But it's a reality we're going to have to work through.”

"I think it's a disappointment to everyone involved," he told Cowboy State Daily.

Collins also praised the BOPU for catching the contamination and getting the city's sewage reuse system cleaned up. 

Hageman and Zuckerberg 7 9 26

<title>Hageman Demands Answers From Zuckerberg About Cheyenne Data Center Contamination | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Wyoming U.S. Rep. Harriet Hageman in a Thursday letter is demanding answers from Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg about how its Cheyenne data center contaminated the city’s wastewater system. “I am deeply concerned,” she wrote.

Hageman Demands Answers From Zuckerberg About Cheyenne Data Center Contamination

Courts

A Manderson, Wyoming, man and woman have been charged after the suspicious death of an infant in a case where investigators say a camper where the child lived was filthy, overheated, had no running water and was littered with human waste, animal feces and meth.

The investigation began just after 10 a.m. Monday, when agents with the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation were notified of the suspicious, unattended death of an infant.

By the time Special Agent Anthony Giles arrived at Three Rivers Hospital in Basin, the baby's mother — 22-year-old Destynie Study — had already told investigators what she said happened that morning.

A newly filed affidavit in the case available Thursday says Destynie fed and changed the infant around 1:30 a.m. before putting the baby back to sleep in a crib inside the family's camper in Manderson. 

She told investigators she woke around 9:45 a.m. and found the infant unresponsive.

She immediately grabbed the child, climbed into her father's vehicle and started driving toward Three Rivers Hospital, calling 911 along the way. 

The affidavit says the baby lived in the camper with the mother, her father Travis Study, and another child who is just over a year old.

At the hospital, investigators said dirt covered Destynie's arms, legs and clothing, and what appeared to be lice eggs or significant dandruff near her scalp. 

"An overwhelming smell of body odor, urine and feces was coming from her person and the room," Giles wrote.

Investigators also documented dirt beneath the infant's fingernails and that "the same odor was permeating from the deceased infant's body."

"The infant's diaper was completely saturated in urine," Giles wrote, along with a small amount of feces and a live, moving insect inside the diaper after it was removed. 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"5-Gallon Bucket Of Human Waste"}]

Armed with a search warrant, DCI agents later searched the camper where the family had been living. Outside sat several black garbage bags investigators believed had recently been placed there.

When agents opened the door, they were hit with the same overwhelming odor of urine, feces and body odor they had encountered earlier at the hospital, wrote Giles. 

Investigators described the camper as being in "complete disarray,” the affidavit says.

Old and moldy food, empty food containers and trash littered nearly every corner. Clothing, wrappers and garbage were piled throughout the sleeping area, the affidavit continues. 

The bathroom emitted what investigators described as an extremely strong smell of feces.

[{"type":"text","text":"The camper itself also was stifling hot."}]

Investigators measured the interior temperature at about 95 degrees with an air conditioner that didn't work. 

There also was no running water connected to the camper, and the sewage system appeared to have been unusable for some time, the affidavit says. The shower and sinks showed signs they had not functioned for an extended period.

The affidavit says investigators also found dog feces and mouse droppings throughout the camper.

[{"type":"text","text":"Inside the bathroom sat a 5-gallon bucket nearly full of human waste."}]

The toilet also contained human waste and appeared abandoned, investigators wrote, with evidence of insect infestation.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Warning Signs "}]

The crib where Destynie told investigators the infant slept was damp and smelled strongly of urine.

Investigators found urine-soaked bedding, a soiled diaper beneath the mattress, and liquid pooled inside the crib's frame. When they lifted the crib, more foul-smelling liquid drained from its support structure, says the affidavit.

Fresh trash outside the camper allegedly discarded before law enforcement arrived contained baby food along with a comforter investigators believed was heavily soiled with urine and feces.

Court records note the conditions inside the camper had raised alarms months before the infant died.

The document outlines four separate contacts between the family, the Wyoming Department of Family Services and Manderson police dating back to early April.

On one visit, officials said they were denied entry while investigating concerns about the family's living conditions.

Another welfare check involved reports that Destynie had missed prenatal appointments during what investigators described as a high-risk pregnancy.

During another visit, a caseworker reported the family's Jeep smelled strongly of cat urine and was littered with debris.

By late May, DFS had received reports that the infant had lost 11% of its body weight and that Destynie had missed a medical appointment.

When caseworkers and officers returned to the property, investigators say they again were refused entry into the camper.

Travis told them to "get the f*** off his property and never come back," alleges the affidavit. 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"'Normal Grandpa Stuff' "}]

Travis remained on speakerphone while investigators interviewed Destynie at the hospital.

When agents requested Destynie's cellphone to establish a timeline, he allegedly warned that if anyone with "a badge or a gun" came to his property, "it would be a bad day for that individual."

Both Travis and Destynie told investigators that Travis regularly cared for the children when Destynie left the residence. Travis reportedly described it as doing the "normal grandpa stuff."

[{"type":"text","text":"The search of the camper also turned up drugs."}]

Investigators say they recovered more than 21 grams of suspected marijuana, marijuana paraphernalia and a glass pipe containing white crystalline residue.

A swab collected from inside the pipe tested presumptively positive for meth and was submitted to the Wyoming State Crime Lab for confirmation.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Criminal Charges Filed"}]

Following the investigation, prosecutors filed criminal charges Wednesday in Big Horn County Circuit Court.

Travis Study, born in 1969, is charged with felony child endangerment alleging exposure to meth, along with misdemeanor counts of reckless endangering, child endangerment, possession of methamphetamine and possession of marijuana.

Destynie Study is charged with misdemeanor reckless endangering of a child and child endangerment. She pleaded not guilty Wednesday.

Big Horn County Attorney Marcia E. Bean filed a demand for a speedy trial the same day, and the court appointed counsel to represent Destynie. A pretrial conference is scheduled for Aug. 3.

The affidavit does not identify an official cause or manner of death for the infant, and the criminal complaint does not allege either defendant intentionally caused the child's death. The investigation is ongoing.

Manderson police and sign 7 9 26

<title>Big Horn Grandpa, Mom Charged After Baby Dies In 95-Degree Feces-Filled Trailer | Cowboy State Daily</title>

A Big Horn County grandfather and mother have been charged after a baby died Monday in a 95-degree trailer filled with feces, garbage and a 5-gallon bucket of human waste. "The infant's diaper was completely saturated in urine,” an investigator says.

Big Horn Grandpa, Mom Charged After Baby Dies In 95-Degree Feces-Filled Trailer

Headshot of Cowboy State Daily's managing editor, Greg Johnson.

Greg Johnson

CHEYENNE — An attorney for a Cheyenne teen 

 with first-degree murder for allegedly shooting his mother in the head wants his case moved to juvenile court, claiming the boy was emotionally abused, secluded, and had a “dysfunctional” relationship with her.

In an 11-page motion filed with the Laramie County District Court on Tuesday, Emily Williams, a public defender representing Havoc Leone, asks the court for a hearing to argue that his case be transferred to juvenile court.

“It is undisputed that the charge is a violent felony against another person, specifically his mother,” she wrote in the motion. “However, the community’s safety is not protected by continuing to prosecute Defendant as an adult rather than transferring his case to juvenile court.”

Williams argues that Leone, who was 14 on March 6 when his 41-year-old mother Theresa McIntosh was shot and killed in his bedroom of their home, would benefit more from the extra attention and treatment he would receive from the juvenile system.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Alleged Abuse"}]

She also said he needs that help because of an abusive and challenging upbringing that has left him less mature than other teens his age.

Leone “is not sophisticated or mature, even for his tender age,” the motion says. “He is an only child that had been homeschooled for nearly six years prior to the alleged incident.

“Defendant did not have many friends, if any, due to the decedent’s seclusion of Defendant from other kids and family members. As an example, she would not allow him to attend school or see his maternal aunt.”

Since Leone’s arrest, the aunt has been visiting him in the Laramie County Detention Center weekly and he has been interacting with other youths, “which is (a) new experience” for him, the motion says.

Williams also references other ways his mother allegedly alienated and emotionally abused Leone.

As a result, he “had a dysfunctional, but too close, relationship with the decedent,” Williams wrote. “He was introduced to pornography when very young within his household and has struggled with pornography addiction for a few years.”

His mother also reportedly “had severe mental health struggles” and problems with substance abuse. With his father away for stretches of time as a truck driver, Leone was left home alone with an abusive and addicted mother.

McIntosh “verbally and physically abused Defendant, and the full extent of this abuse will be explored in depth by a professional,” the motion says.

A message left for Williams wasn’t returned by publication; however, that abuse was brought up during Leon’s 

She had reportedly called him “retarded” and a “thief” when they argued before the shooting, said defense attorney Jonathan Foreman.

“If I called you ‘retarded,’ would you believe it?” Foreman asked Laramie County Sheriff’s Office Detective Miles DePrimo, who testified about the details of the case, which included Leone admitting to hating his mother and shooting her.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"DePrimo answered, “No.”"}]

“Would a child who had been hearing that his whole childhood start to question that?” Foreman followed up.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"“Maybe,” the detective answered."}]

“Ms. McIntosh, who was mentally ill … regularly called him ‘retarded,’ pulled his hair” and slapped him, said Foreman.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"DA: Adult Charge ‘Appropriate’"}]

Despite the arguments of abuse and his age — 14 is the cutoff in Wyoming to be charged as an adult — Laramie County District Attorney Sylvia Hackl said her office believes the adult charge is appropriate and will oppose Williams’ motion.

“Yes, we knew about the motion and yes, we will oppose his transfer to juvenile court,” she told Cowboy State Daily. “But, we have to wait and see what the defense produces (at a hearing on the motion).”

Hackl said she thought it appropriate to charge Leone as an adult when the crime happened in early March, and still does.

“He shot his mother in the head with a gun he stole from her car,” she said. “We thought the charges as an adult were appropriate. This motion to transfer is not a surprise.

“We consider every case on its own merits, and to say that this one is tragic and unusual, it is. It’s both tragic and unusual.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Rehabilitate"}]

If the goal of the justice system is to rehabilitate alleged offenders, then juvenile court is by far the best place for Leone, Williams argues in her motion.

“Defendant’s likelihood of reasonable rehabilitation through services available in juvenile court is very high,” the motion says. “Juveniles are more capable of change than are adults, and their actions less likely to be evidence of ‘irretrievably depraved character’ than are the actions of adults.”

Williams also argues that Leon’s pornography addiction could be better addressed in the juvenile system than in an adult facility.

“By the time Defendant is parole eligible, he will be long past his teenage years when his brain is most malleable,” the motion says. “In fact, Defendant would (be) approaching middle age at the likely time of his release.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"What Happened"}]

In contrast to the picture painted in Williams’ motion, Assistant District Attorney Kelly Strickland has argued that Leone was far from a victim at the time he allegedly shot his mother.

Leone had expressed a long-simmering hatred for his mother, had thoughts about killing her, and then followed through when presented with an opportunity, Strickland argued at the teen’s preliminary hearing.

Along with stealing his mother’s gun from her car a week earlier and admitting he thought about killing her then, Leone’s interviews with detectives show he had “prior thoughts” of shooting his mother but hadn’t found the right opportunity until March 6, when the argument culminated in her being shot, Strickland said.

“Right before pulling the trigger on the gun, Theresa yelled at him again if he was ‘retarded,’” Strickland said, recounting an interview Leone had with an investigator. “He said, ‘Yes mom,’ and pulled the trigger.”

The fatal confrontation was the culmination of an argument Leone had with his parents over an electronic tablet that had been stolen from a cleaning client of McIntosh’s.

After the initial argument, they all went their separate ways in their three-level home just south of Cheyenne city limits, according to an affidavit of probable cause filed in his case.

The father went into the basement, McIntosh was upstairs in Leone’s room doing a puzzle on the floor, while Leone was at the kitchen table doing homework.

At some point, Leone went up to his room where McIntosh was, and they began arguing again, the affidavit says.

A gun the teen stole from his mother’s car the week prior, a Taurus 9mm pistol, had been stashed in a boot in Leone’s closet, the detective wrote. 

At one point during their argument, Leone went to the closet to retrieve a notebook that supposedly had a password to access the stolen tablet, DePrimo

Leone pulled the gun out of the boot and held it by his side to hide it from McIntosh.

With McIntosh sitting back on her knees on the floor, Leone told detectives that he tossed the notebook at her, which forced the woman to lean forward away from him, exposing the back of her head, DePrimo testified.

“As she knelt forward, he revealed the gun and shot her,” he said.

A Cheyenne boy who was 14 when he allegedly shot his mom in the head and charged as an adult with first-degree murder should be in juvenile court, his attorney argues in a Tuesday court motion. It claims his mother “verbally and physically abused” him.

Daily Smile: Friday, June 14, 2024

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