Boy, 14, was held down and hacked to death at Wyoming mall while he tried to protect his girlfriend
A teenager was held down and stabbed to death by a pair of ski-mask-wearing attackers as he tried to protect his girlfriend at a Wyoming mall, a court was told.
Dominique Antonio Richard Harris and Jarreth Plunkett, both 15, are accused of murdering 14-year-old Bobby Maher during the fatal attack at Eastridge Mall in Casper in April, according to the Cowboy State Daily.
Harris has pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to commit first-degree murder in connection to the attack. He is being tried as an adult and allegedly admitted to police that he held Maher down to assist Plunkett in the alleged attack.
The teen told investigators he did not know Plunkett was going to kill Maher, and claimed he was only holding the teen down to "make sure the fight was over."
However, surveillance footage from the April 7 attack shows him allegedly slamming Maher onto the ground and then holding him down while Plunkett plunged a knife into the teen twice.
According to police, Maher went to the mall to assist his girlfriend, Haley Bressler, after she called him and told him Plunkett and Harris were stalking her and a friend.
Surveillance footage taken from the mall shows Maher trying to escort his girlfriend and her friend out of the mall, but Plunkett and Harris stop them before they can exit.
Plunkett and Harris then confronted Maher because they were reportedly angry at the victim over an incident earlier this year at an Evansville park.
Harris told police that Maher asked the two 15-year-olds if they were "freaks" because he saw them leave a portable bathroom at the park together.
First responders were called to the scene of the stabbing and Maher was rushed to hospital where he was pronounced dead. An autopsy showed that he suffered two knife wounds, including one that pierced his heart, according to the Oil City News.
A witness told police they saw the two defendants pointing and laughing at the wounded and dying Maher before they fled to the mall's parking lot. They were detained minutes later by a Natrona County Sheriff's deputy.
Bressler recorded the attack on her phone. The footage was shown during the preliminary hearing for the defendants on Thursday.
Harris has also been charged with aggravated battery, and assault, as well as misdemeanor theft for allegedly stealing a pair of knives — including the one used in the murder — from a Target.
Brandon Booth, Harris' defense attorney, said his client reserved the right to change his pleas to mental illness or mental deficiency, even though he already pleaded not guilty.
Harris told District Judge Kerri Johnson that he had never been diagnosed with any kind of learning disability.
Plunkett has also pleaded not guilty by reason of mental illness or deficiency. A judge has ordered him to undergo a medical examination to determine his ability to stand trial.
The Fuller and Semerad Law Firm, which is representing Maher's family, issued a statement on Thursday following the defendants' preliminary hearing.
“The Maher family will fight to get justice for Bobby from every party responsible for his killing,” Attorney Ryan Semerad said in the statement.
