CASPER — A 19-year-old man who shot a 47-year-old man in the back last Fourth of July at a local park will spend five to eight years in prison.
Adolfo Aceves was given the sentence Tuesday by Judge Kerri Johnson in Natrona County District Court.
He wore blue jeans and a dark blue button-down shirt in court, where he appeared for sentencing following his guilty plea to aggravated assault and battery.
The January plea was part of a deal with the Natrona County District Attorney’s office to ask for no more than eight years in prison.
Aceves was arrested for the July 4 shooting in late September following a three-month investigation by the Casper Police Department.
Caught On Video
Deputy District Attorney Blaine Nelson played two brief video clips of the shooting. The videos, taken by bystanders at Mathew Campfield Park, show Fowler in a confrontation with a trio of young men.
The video shows Fowler tried to grab one of the young men and put him up against a fence as Aceves — in a black hooded Nike sweatshirt, blue jeans and black shoes — attempted to shove him.
Seconds later, Aceves raised a handgun and fired it into Fowler’s back. People began yelling and running in various directions.
“This had been a Fourth of July event,” Nelson said. “It was crowded … children of all ages.”
Nelson said a group of youth, including Aceves, had been firing bottle rockets into the crowd and disregarding people who were telling them that it was unsafe and to stop shooting them horizontally. He said a bottle rocket landed near the feet of Mr. Fowler’s child.
“Mr. Fowler went across to stop it. They laugh and don’t take it seriously,” Nelson said.
Nelson said Aceves had claimed his actions were self-defense, but he was never in danger and his friend who Fowler was contending with was never struck by Fowler.
“It’s not self-defense and it’s not self-defense of others,” Nelson said. “(Fowler’s) children saw him grievously wounded. There were dozens of other family members there who took their children and fled to safety.”
Previous Conviction
In addition to the July 4 shooting, Nelson said Aceves had a prior misdemeanor conviction for a concealed weapon and intoxication.
Nelson asked the judge to impose the six-to-eight-year sentence and to not consider the state’s youthful offender program for Aceves.
Defense attorney Dylan Rosalez agreed that the shooting caused “quite a melee.” He said his client did not believe he was legally justified in shooting Fowler.
“He reacted in trying to help his friend,” Rosalez said. “He accepted responsibility. He understands what he did and the seriousness of it.”
Aceves’ remarks to the court were too quiet to be heard, but Rosalez said following the hearing that he told the judge that he was sorry for what he did and apologized to the victim.
Rosalez asked the court for a four-to-six-year sentence and consider allowing him to attend the Wyoming Department of Corrections’ youthful offender program.
Johnson sentenced Aceves to five to eight years and noted that the pre-sentence investigation showed “an indication that he does not have remorse for this offense.”
“I am not going to recommend the youthful offender program,” she said.
Aceves had his hands in his blue jeans as he walked away into custody of the Natrona County Sheriff’s Office deputies.
He was given credit for six days served.
Confidential Witnesses
Court records showed that on July 5, police conducted a search of Aceves’ home and questioned him about a person in a black hoodie involved in the shooting.
Aceves told police then that he had left with friend prior to the shooting and had been wearing a white Nike brand hoodie with a small stain on the front pocket. He said they went to Wendy’s and stayed the night with a female friend until he was taken home that morning.
A confidential witness interviewed by police Sept. 6 identified Aceves as the person in the black hoodie and as the driver of a group of males who went to the Mathew Campfield Park the night of July 4.
Another confidential witness provided the video of the shooting to police Sept. 11 allowing police to identify Aceves’ face as he wore the black hoodie and held a black handgun in his right hand firing it into the victim’s back.
Dale Killingbeck can be reached at dale@cowboystatedaily.com.
