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Cowboy State Daily is Wyoming’s largest newspaper with Wyoming’s most experienced journalists. 

<title>🚧 Daily Darwin: Saturday, December 14, 2024 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Daily Darwin: Saturday, December 14, 2024

 We want this guy as our personal trainer......

Headshot of Cowboy State Daily reporter, Dale Killingbeck

Dale Killingbeck

Crime & Courts

Courts

CASPER — Two Casper police officers will not be charged in the April 28 shooting death of an armed woman who met them at her front door after she called 911 to report a burglary in progress.

Natrona County District Attorney Dan Itzen issued a letter Tuesday to the Wyoming Department of Criminal Investigation agent who led the investigation into the fatal police shooting of Casper resident Jody Cobia, 37, saying he won’t prosecute. 

Cobia responded to police approaching the door of her McKinley Street home by sending out a German shepherd and leveling a weapon at an officer, according to 

 released by the Casper Police Department in late May.

In a three-page letter to DCI agent Zack Miller, Itzen outlined how Casper officers Zachary Gonzales and William Maples were met at the door by Cobia, who pointed a gun at Maples and asked, “Where the f*** are my children?”

Itzen wrote that body camera video showed that as Maples approached the door, a German shepherd came out of the partially opened door and jumped on Maples.

Cobia, dressed in black pants, black shirt and black baseball cap, had a gun in her hand and aimed it at Maples, asking about her children just before the officers heard a “click,” Itzen wrote.

Maples during his interview about the incident said he looked up from the dog on his chest to see the gun pointed at his head and ducked to get out of the line of fire. He thought he was “going to die,” Itzen wrote.

“As he does this, he hears a click sound,” Itzen wrote. “The officer knew that sound occurs when the trigger is depressed.”

Itzen said both Maples and Gonzalez responded to Cobia by firing their weapons and hitting her once in the chest and once in the leg. 

He said Cobia “retreated” into the home before falling. Maples is heard on body camera as saying, “I think her gun jammed, dude.”

Gonzales’ body camera showed him checking his own body to see if he was shot, saying, “She shot at us,” Itzen wrote, adding that Gonzales fired after hearing the click sound.

When Cobia’s weapon was examined, Itzen said the weapon was loaded and in a “visual examination, the trigger was in the pulled position.”

A canvas of the neighborhood revealed that one neighbor described Cobia as “always armed with a pistol.” 

Another neighbor confirmed that Cobia had a pistol and stated that shewas afraid someone would take her children. Another neighbor described the 37-year-old mother as a “crazy lady.”

The investigation, Itzen wrote, revealed that Cobia’s children had been removed from her home.

Law enforcement officers have a right to self-defense, just like anyone else, Itzen wrote. He said the “right” depends on what is “reasonably necessary.”

“The person must reasonably perceive the threat of imminent death or serious bodily harm under all of the circumstances,” Itzen wrote, citing Wyoming law. “And a reasonable person would have acted in a similar manner.”

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Itzen’s letter says that the use of  “deadly force” by officers Maples and Gonzales was “reasonable” for their own self-defense during the incident.

“Both officers are called to a home where an armed person dressed in black has made entry into the home,” Itzen wrote. “The officers see a person fitting that description. That person aims a gun at Officer Maples’ head and pulls the trigger. 

“The officers rightfully perceived the threat, and their response was reasonable.”

The Casper Police Department did not immediately respond to a question about whether Gonzales and Maples are back on duty.

An obituary earlier this year posted on the Casper 

 website described Cobia as a person with a “vibrant spirit and unwavering dedication to her family.”

“Jody’s playful personality shone brightly through her mildly laidback demeanor and ever-present wit,” the obituary says. “Always ready for a good-natured spar with her children, she had an unparalleled talent for bringing laughter into ordinary moments, leaving an imprint of joy wherever she went.”

The obituary lists four children and her husband, Aren, as survivors, and well as a father and brother.

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Court records showed that Jody Cobia and her husband had been estranged, and that Aren Cobia had filed for divorce April 14, asking for custody of three minor children.

Jody Cobia also had a protection order in place against her husband that was filed Aug. 5, 2024, and effective through Aug. 5, 2025.

Jody Cobia was a native of Phoenix, Arizona, and graduated from high school there, her obituary says, adding that she was a creative and “caring” person.

“She found joy in making candles, soap, and bath bombs, weaving warmth and light into the lives of those around her,” it says. “Her hobbies blossomed into not just crafts, but heartfelt gifts for family and friends that spoke to her caring nature.”

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Jody Cobia Casper officer invoved shooting 2 8 26 25

<title>🚧 Casper Police Officers Cleared In Shooting Death Of Armed Woman | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Two Casper police officers have been cleared in the April 28 shooting death of a woman who called 911 reporting a burglary, and then met them at her door with a gun. She tried to shoot the officers, but her gun may have jammed, the prosecutor says.

Daily Darwin: Saturday, December 14, 2024

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