CASPER - A 21-year-old Cheyenne man faces eight to 10 years in prison following his sentencing for shooting a 16-year-old friend as they played with loaded weapons last Mother’s Day.
Sebastian Belden entered a plea deal with Natrona County Assistant District Attorney Patrick LeBrun that dropped one aggravated assault and battery charge from the incident on May 11, 2025, in exchange for him pleading guilty to an identical one.
A Natrona County Sheriff’s Office investigation showed Belden and a 16-year-old he had purchased a handgun for had been playing with loaded weapons all day. Belden had described their behavior as playing a game of “quick draw.”
Belden appeared in court with his defense attorney Dylan Rosalez who was unaware that Belden had filed a letter with Judge Kerri Johnson dated March 11 asking for another attorney.
“I feel like he is making things worse,” Belden wrote. “I know it’s close to my sentencing date, but I know he isn’t representing me with the best of his ability. Thank you for your time reading this.”
Johnson asked Belden if he still wanted to proceed with the sentencing, and Johnson affirmed with him that he did want to continue with the sentencing, with Rosalez representing him.
The victim’s grandfather, Bruce Parker, told the judge that he had known Belden for several years and that she should take any of his contrition at face value. He said Belden purchased a handgun for his grandson despite his objections and when confronted about it had initially lied.
“He persisted in trying to disavow and not admit to what was going on,” Parker said. “When he became aware of his arrest, he fled to Cheyenne.”
“Extremely Lucky”
LeBrun told the court that the victim was “extremely lucky” to be alive and introduced photographs of the damage that the bullet from Belden’s Taurus G3 9mm handgun had on the victim’s head and brain.
He said the victim suffered a traumatic brain injury, spent two months in the hospital recovering, and the consequences of the gunshot will affect him physically for the rest of his life.
“It’s miraculous that this is not a manslaughter case,” he said. “(The victim) will get to enjoy living.”
LeBrun said Belden was supposed to be the “adult” and had been a member of the Wyoming National Guard and trained in the use of firearms. He said on May 11 Belden and the 16-year-old played “quick draw” and repeatedly pointed their guns at one another.
Belden acted that way because he “thought it was cool,” LeBrun said. LeBrun said the person who was supposed to teach the 16-year-old how to act with a gun “shot him in the head.”
LeBrun asked the judge for an eight-to-10-year prison sentence. He also asked that the judge make Belden pay restitution for the AirPods that the victim was wearing when he was shot in the head.
Rosalez told the court that his client has “quite a simple world view” and that his outlook was influenced by growing up in a home with an abusive father. He said Belden was behind in his physical and emotional growth due to those factors and tried to better himself after leaving the home.
“He was able to get into the National Guard and build a life,” Rosalez said. “He does accept responsibility; he does understand the recklessness of the day.”
Rosalez said Belden had developed PTSD and would like to have probation so that he could work, pay off any restitution, court fines, and costs.
Probation Request
He asked Johnson to consider a five-to eight-year prison sentence that would be suspended and for five years of supervised probation. He said he believed Belden had 313 days of credit for his time served in jail.
Belden told the judge he had been “struggling” and was on medication and seeking counseling and other opportunities to better himself while in jail. He said he “felt terrible” for what happened.
“I don’t want to see another handgun,” he said.
Johnson told Belden that probation was not appropriate given the “severity of this offense.”
She told Belden that he purchased a firearm for a minor and could have been charged with that offense as well and when he was confronted about it by the victim’s grandfather initially denied making the purchase.
“You were hanging around with 13, 14, and 15-year-olds despite being an adult,” Johnson said, adding that he “ignored” all the firearms safety training he received in the national guard.
The judge said Belden also initially asked the girls who witnessed the shooting to lie to police about what happened. She referenced a comment Belden made about wanting to “get past” the incident.
“Well, (the victim) will never ‘get past’ this,” she told him.
Johnson then sentenced him to eight to 10 years in prison and ordered he pay $1,024 in restitution as well as court costs.
The Background
The case against Belden stems from a 911 call on May 11 at 7:06 p.m. about a 16-year-old boy having been shot in the head.
When Natrona County Sheriff’s Office deputies arrived at a home on the corner of First and South Washington streets, they found the teen with a single gunshot wound to the left side of his forehead, above the left eye, and an exit wound behind the teen’s left ear.
The police affidavit states deputies recovered a loaded handgun belonging to the teen with a round in the chamber.
They found Belden’s firearm in the yard where he had tossed it. It was loaded and had a round in the chamber.
Initially, Belden told a Natrona County Sheriff’s Office investigator that the shooting was a “one-in-a-million-fluke kind of thing because the safety on my gun was on.”
“I didn’t even know I had a live round in the chamber,” Belden told the investigator.
Witnesses, including Belden’s fiancée, told police both Belden and the teen had weapons that afternoon, and that Belden frequently took his Taurus G3 9 mm from his waistband and pointed it at the teen’s head.
“During most of those incidents, (his fiancée) told Belden to put the firearm away,” the affidavit states.
Belden eventually confessed in a May 21 follow-up interview with authorities that he pulled the weapon from his waistband, pointed it at the teen, manipulated the safety lever to “make sure nothing bad happened.”
He agreed with an investigator that the only way it could have gone off was that “his finger was on the trigger,” according to the affidavit.
The teen was treated at Banner Wyoming Medical Center and then flown to Children’s Hospital Colorado in Denver.
Request to Lie
During interviews with Belden’s fiancée and forensic interviews with 12-year-old and 14-year-old minor girls who had witnessed the shooting, investigators were told that Belden asked them to lie to law enforcement and tell them he tripped over something, and that is what caused his weapon to go off.
All three of the females told investigators that there was no animosity between the pair, and Belden’s fiancée told deputies that he had bought a SCCY handgun for the 16-year-old.
Investigators found the purchase forms for both of the weapons on March 28 and April 16.
The affidavit states that a video at the store where the SCCY handgun was bought showed Belden’s fiancée and the teen were with him.
Belden also wrote an apology letter to the teen’s family and a representative of his delivered the letter to the Casper Police Department, asking it to be given to the teen’s family.
The letter was given to the Natrona County Sheriff’s Office, the affidavit states.
“The note expressed regret and remorse on behalf of Belden for hurting (the teen),” the affidavit states. “The note also indicated that the shooting was a ‘terrible accident’ and asked for the (teen’s) family’s forgiveness.”
Dale Killingbeck can be reached at dale@cowboystatedaily.com.
