Robert Maher, the 14-year-old teenager who died in a fight outside a Casper mall on Sunday, apparently died after being stabbed twice in the stomach with a stolen kitchen knife.
Police arrested two other teens, Dominique Antonio Richard Harris and Jarreth Joseflee Sabastian Plunkett, both 15, on the same day. They’ve been charged as adults with felony counts of conspiracy to commit murder, aggravated assault and battery, and with misdemeanor theft, according to Cowboy State Daily.
A teen friend of Maher who accompanied him to the mall said they were there because Maher’s girlfriend had called saying two males were following her and a friend around the mall. The alleged assailants were wearing hooded ski masks or balaclava masks.
Maher told the two teens who were bothering the girls to leave the mall. The group moved outside the mall doors, where a fight broke out. Witnesses tell police Dom slammed Maher to the ground and then JJ stabbed him.
The friend said he did not know the attackers’ last names, but that they all went to Dean Middle School together. The pair may have been seeking revenge for an earlier fight at a park in Evansville.
Casper police have a video that reportedly shows one of the teens chasing Maher outside the mall, but he was moving backward as if he didn’t want to fight. At one point, Maher tried to go back inside the mall, but a group of teens who had gathered to watch the fight were blocking the doors.
‘They were seen laughing and pointing as they ran through the parking lot while witnesses attempted first aid,’ said Chief Deputy District Attorney Blaine Nelson of the suspects.
Maher’s father wrote on Facebook: ‘Bobby Rest in Peace my baby I miss you so much Daddy was so proud of you and loved you so much so very much!
‘We are so devastated nothing can bring you back we love you Bobby….you will never be forgotten! I am dying inside and out right now and will be forever.’
Maher’s family has launched a GoFundMe that has raised over $33,000 for funeral expenses.
