CASPER — A 15-year-old boy who allegedly told friends “I hope I killed one” after shooting into one of two north Casper homes Aug. 9 and Aug. 12 pleaded not guilty in Natrona County District Court on Wednesday.
Marquis Hayman stood before Judge Daniel Forgey next to attorney Dylan Rosalez in a red jumpsuit and shackles as the charges against him were read, his curly black hair covering his ears. The teen stands about 5 feet, 6 inches tall and has a slight build.
Judge Forgey read through the two cases and charges that include one count of aggravated assault and battery and one of property defacement for the Aug. 9 incident, as well as charges of aggravated assault and battery, property destruction and defacement, and reckless endangering for the Aug. 12 case.
“Do you plead not guilty to these charges?” Judge Forgey asked.
“Yes sir,” Hayman responded.
Rosalez asked the judge to consider reducing the $100,000 cash bond in the Aug. 9 case and $50,000 cash bond in the Aug. 12 case to $20,000 cash or surety.
He told the judge his client, as a juvenile, had no access to money and that his mother and grandmother would help oversee him. Rosalez said a stepfather would consider returning from Florida as well to help monitor Hayman on bond.
“He knows he needs to get back in school and get that going,” Rosalez said.
Assistant District Attorney Jeff Meyer argued that the bond was appropriate, and that Hayman had “significant” history with the court system as a juvenile.
Bonds ‘Appropriate’
Judge Forgey ruled that “the bonds remain appropriate.”
Meyer also asked the judge to consider consolidating the cases for trial and the judge said he would set a hearing on the matter.
Prior to his arraignment, Hayman walked into the courtroom and briefly looked at family members sitting in the courtroom and smiled.
Hayman’s brother Anicio Bernard told him, “We love you brother!” As Hayman was led out of the courtroom.
Bernard also said his brother is “innocent.”
“He has $100,000 bond, it’s unfair,” he told Cowboy State Daily. “He’s 15 years old.”
Court records show police responded to the 1200 block of North Center Street on Aug. 10 after a call that a house had been shot at. A resident of the home told police she had been asleep about 5:30 a.m. Aug. 9 and woke up to what sounded like gunshots in the area. She did not believe they came into her trailer home and went back to sleep.
The next day, her son returned home from Denver and found two bullet holes in his bedroom.
The homeowner reviewed video that showed a male in a while Calvin Klein shirt and dark jeans wearing a mask come up to the residence and fire two shots at the home, a court affidavit states.
Police recovered a shell casing outside the home. An investigation of a Snapchat post the victim’s son received showed a screen shot of a male in while Calvin Klein shirt.
The victims at the house refused to press charges, but following the Aug. 12 incident, the affidavit said the bullet casing recovered at the scene on North Center Street was similar to that of the Aug. 12 shooting in the 1100 Block of North Durbin Street.
‘Mama Ducking’
A witness also told police that she heard Hayman bragging Aug. 11 about shooting up “Chopo’s” house a few nights earlier. “Chopo” was the social media handle of the North Center Street victim’s son.
One of the text messages read: “He living life while his mama ducking shots.”
The charges related to the Aug. 12 incident on North Durbin involve a shooting that resulted in three bullet holes in the glass window of a mobile home and two other bullet holes with fragments penetrating a bedroom where people were sleeping.
A police affidavit into the incident alleges there had been underage drinking in a car, and a text message to a girl that was in the car that she should “kill herself” from a 15-year-old boy who lived in the Durbin mobile home. Hayman had been bragging about a 9 mm pistol he had, and he requested a ride to the house where he allegedly fired five shots into the home in the 1100 block of North Durbin Street.
After returning, a witness told police Hayman said, “Yo, we just popped this (expletive). … I hope I killed one,” the affidavit states.
Each of the charges of aggravated assault carry a potential 10-year prison sentence and $10,000 fine. The property destruction charge stemming the Aug. 9 incident is a misdemeanor while the one from the Aug. 12 incident is a felony. Felony property destruction and defacement carries up to 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine or both, the misdemeanor up to six months in jail and a $750 fine or both.
The reckless endangering misdemeanor charge stemming from the Aug. 12 incident carries a potential one-year jail term.
Dale Killingbeck can be reached at dale@cowboystatedaily.com.
