CASPER – A 17-year-old girl stabbed another 17-year-old girl in the stomach with a machete-style knife on Halloween after police say the victim kicked the other’s SUV.
Casper police said the attack happened in a parking lot on the north side of the city and involved a large gathering of teens, marijuana and alcohol.
Gabriella Kathleen Aultman appeared in Casper Circuit Court on Friday to face a charge of aggravated assault and battery. Judge Kevin Taheri set bond at $100,000 cash or surety.
Court records available Monday show the incident followed a Halloween night gathering of about 20 vehicles and people in their teens and early 20s in the National Historic Trails Interpretive Center parking lot on the north side of the city.
One witness told police some people were in various friends’ groups outside vehicles and others were mingling between groups while others stayed in their vehicles.
Aultman was at the gathering with a friend and “designated driver” and had agreed to give another 17-year-old female friend a ride home in her family’s red Dodge Durango. An arrest affidavit states that as they tried to back out of the space just before 9:30 p.m. on Oct. 31 there were people gathered behind it, including the 17-year-old stabbing victim.
The victim, identified as “W.W.” told the police that as the vehicle was in reverse it nearly hit others gathering behind and she “kicked the vehicle” to “let them know she was there.”
Aultman, known as “Bella,” then got out of the passenger’s side of the vehicle and pulled out a long, machete-style knife with a black and red blade.
Police said she stabbed the victim in the stomach. The victim took hold of the knife and cut all four of her fingers in her left hand trying to pull it out, the affidavit states.
Alcohol And Marijuana
During her interview with police, Aultman disclosed that she had been drinking and smoking marijuana.
“Bella advised that she drank shots of Pink Whitney Vodka and smoked marijuana out of a pipe,” the affidavit states. “Detectives were able to smell the odor of an alcoholic beverage emanating from Bella’s person.”
Aultman told police that at 9:15 p.m. she wanted to leave and her 17-year-old friend who police identified as “A.L.” was driving. She said her friend was backing out slowly because there were several people around the Durango talking. She said she yelled from inside the vehicle for people to move, the affidavit states.
The victim kicked the passenger side rear door on the pickup with a front kick, the affidavit says.
Aultman told police she became angry and got out of the vehicle with the machete she held with her right hand extended toward the victim. She told police she asked the victim why she kicked the SUV.
“Bella stated that she extended her arm forward, causing the tip of the knife to go into (the victim’s) stomach, about 1.5 inches deep,” the affidavit states. “Bella pulled her own arm back and quickly walked the short distance back to the Durango. Bella told (the driver) to go. As they were driving away, Bella states she began crying.”
Aultman told police she did not recall much “dialogue” with the victim. She also told them that after the stabbing she became scared because she was currently involved with the court system for being a minor in possession with alcohol.
Emergency Surgery
The affidavit states the victim was transported to Banner Wyoming Medical Center and sustained a “deep laceration to her abdomen” that required emergency surgery to repair the abdominal wall.
The victim will potentially require more surgeries, the affidavit states.
Police stopped the Durango shortly after the incident and recovered the knife with blood on its blade.
The Durango’s 17-year-old female driver, “A.L.,” told police that she was the “designated sober driver” and that she was trying to be careful backing out of the parking space when she heard a thump. She pulled forward and Bella jumped out with the knife she had in the center counsel of the SUV.
“After a very short time, Bella came running back to the vehicle yelling ‘go, go, go,” she told police. She said Aultman started giving her directions, mumbling, and crying saying she was “sorry she did that,” the affidavit states.
The affidavit also contains interviews with six other witnesses between the ages of 18 to 22 years old who were in the parking lot at the time of the incident. A 20-year-old male told police he thought the Durango “almost hit” the victim.
The charge of aggravated assault and battery carries a penalty of up to 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
The stabbing is the latest in a string of violence involving weapons and young people and teens in Casper this year.
Dale Killingbeck can be reached at dale@cowboystatedaily.com.
