Teen Who Stabbed 14-Year-Old At Casper Mall Pleads Guilty To First-Degree Murder

CASPER — A Casper 16-year-old pleaded guilty to first-degree murder Friday for the April 7, 2024, fatal stabbing of a 14-year-old boy trying to protect his girlfriend at a local mall.

Members of victim Bobby Maher’s family were in the courtroom at the Natrona County courthouse along with their attorney, Ryan Semerad. Semerad said the family had no comment about the plea.

The murder plea made by Jarreth Plunkett with his attorney Curtis Cheney in Judge Catherine Wilking courtroom also involved a guilty plea to aggravated assault for putting a knife to the chest of Maher’s friend. 

In exchange for the guilty pleas, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and misdemeanor theft charges were dropped.

The deal calls for a minimum of life sentence for the first-degree murder charge and no more than 10 years for the aggravated assault charge. Both sentences would be served concurrently.    

Plunkett appeared in court in shackles with a green jail top and orange bottoms and short blond hair. 

He told the judge that he was in 10th grade and answered “yes” to a question about whether he took medications. He told the judge he could understand the proceedings.

Addressing the judge as “ma’am,” he respectfully answered her series of questions about his agreeing to the prosecution’s plea offer.

Wilking asked if he understood that as part of the deal, District Attorney Dan Itzen would provide the court with the facts to “outline the basis” of his guilty pleas.

“Yes ma’am,” he said.

After Plunkett pleaded guilty to both charges, Itzen went through the series of events that led to the death of Maher and the threat against his friend, who was referred to in court documents as “H.W.”

What Happened

Itzen told the court that the charges stem from spring break in 2024 when Plunkett and Maher exchanged words at a basketball court. 

Then on April 5, 2024, evidence shows Plunkett was looking for Maher on a school bus, but Maher was not on the bus.

Cellphone video evidence from the bus encounter depicted Plunkett asking, “Who wants to pay Bobby’s blood debt,” Itzen said.

Two days later on April 7, Itzen said Plunkett and his co-defendant, Dominique Harris, went to the Eastridge Mall in Casper to “screw around.” There, they saw Maher’s girlfriend and another girl and then harassed them. 

Itzen said the girlfriend contacted Maher, who responded by going to the mall to protect her.

“The defendant tells the co-defendant, ‘I am going to cut him,’” Itzen said. 

Once at the mall, Itzen said evidence shows that Maher tried to get Plunkett outside and away from the girls.

Outside, Itzen said Plunkett pulled out a knife stolen from Target and Maher told him to put it away because it wasn’t “fair.”

“I don’t fight fair,” Itzen said Plunkett responded. 

That’s when Harris picked up Maher and body-slammed him to the ground, then Plunkett stabbed Maher twice — once into the heart and lung, and once in the stomach.

Itzen said during the encounter, evidence shows that “Bobby Maher never had a weapon and continued to back up.”

‘I’ll Shank You’

During a preliminary hearing in Casper Circuit Court, a video obtained from a witness of the stabbing was shown in court depicting the killing.

Itzen also recounted statements provided to police about an encounter between Plunkett and a friend of Maher’s referred to as “H. W.” inside the mall prior to Maher’s arrival. 

Maher’s friend told Plunkett that if he was going to fight Maher he would have to fight him as well.

Itzen said Plunkett pulled out the stolen knife.

“The defendant held it to his chest and says, ‘I’ll shank you,’” Itzen said.

Wilking asked Plunkett and Cheney if they had any statements to add to Itzen’s remarks. Cheney looked at Plunkett, who shook his head “no.” 

While Itzen recounted the facts of the case, Plunkett had his head down for much of the time.

Wilking accepted the evidence provided by Itzen and said she found Plunkett’s pleas were made after consultation with “competent counsel.”

“There is very strong evidence to the actual guilty of the crimes charged,” she said.

Wilking said she would order a pre-sentence investigation in the case.

Plunkett’s co-defendant Harris has a trial date set for September.

‘It Is Hard To Breathe’

Two weeks after he was killed, hundreds of people from the Casper community turned out for Maher’s funeral.

“Bobby, not a day has passed that we have been able to begin to cope with losing you. We will never forget all the memories we shared,” the family said in a statement read at the service. “Your light was too bright for those cowards to dim. All the greatness of who you were, and all the people who you’ve impacted, (we) will never forget those memories. 

“We will hold those memories the closest to our broken hearts in these tough days ahead. This pain is deep. Your mom, your brothers, your dad loved you so very much and miss you so much. It is hard to breathe.”

Dale Killingbeck can be reached at dale@cowboystatedaily.com.