MARINETTE, Wis. (WBAY) – A 16-year-old who was accused along with another person in the drowning of a 13-year-old boy is now being charged as an adult.
Peyton Carnot is charged with 2nd Degree Reckless Homicide as a Party to a Crime. Online court records show he was formally charged December 5.
Carnot had previously been only identified by his initials in prior court documents when charges were filed against 21-year-old Tylor Robert Birch for the death of 13-year-old Jakob Bowerman.
Birch is also charged with 2nd Degree Reckless Homicide.
Back in August, Jakob’s mother says two people, later identified as Birch and Carnot, pushed her son into the Menominee River off Government Pier in Marinette.
According to the criminal complaint, Birch and Carnot initially claimed Jakob voluntarily jumped into the water along with them. However, after police investigators noted it was strange that Jakob willingly jumped into the water while fully clothed, the complaint said Birch and Carnot later admitted to throwing him in the water during horseplay, despite knowing Jakob could not swim.
According to the complaint, Carnot claimed it was Birch’s idea to throw Jakob in the water, but that he participated; he expressed remorse and said he was sorry.
The complaint says Jakob struggled in the water, and attempts to rescue him were unsuccessful. He was taken to Aurora Medical Center and later to St. Vincent’s Hospital in Green Bay, where he died on August 23. He would have turned 14 on September 1.
On December 5, the court set a cash bond for Carnot at $100,000. The court ordered him to continue all schooling, have absolutely no alcohol or controlled substances, including THC anywhere in the world. He’s also ordered to have no contact by any means with victim’s family at all and no contact with Birch, his co-defendant.
A preliminary hearing and arraignment for Carnot are scheduled for December 17.
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