Local News

Teen pleads no contest in Marinette drowning death

MARINETTE, Wis. -- A teen accused in the August 2025 drowning of a 13-year-old Marinette boy has pleaded no contest to second-degree reckless homicide as a party to a crime.

Peyton Liam Carnot, 17, of Kaukauna, appeared in the Marinette County Circuit Court Branch 2 on Tuesday, where Judge James A. Morrison accepted the plea and found him guilty. The maximum penalty is 25 years in prison and/or a $100,000 fine.

Carnot previously pleaded not guilty to the charge in January in connection with the August 2025 death of Jakob William Bowerman, according to court records.

In June, Marinette County District Attorney DeShea Morrow said a plea deal was offered to Carnot, though specifics of the deal were not released.

Carnot's co-defendant in the case, 22-year-old Tylor Robert Birch, was also charged with second-degree reckless homicide. Birch has pleaded not guilty by mental disease or defect in July.

The criminal complaint states the drowning incident took place Aug. 20, 2025, at the Marinette pier. Bowerman was reportedly pulled from the water by first responders and transported to the St. Vincent Children's Hospital in Green Bay, Wis., where he died three days later.

Bowerman's autopsy listed the cause of death as drowning.

Initial statements Birch and Carnot reportedly given to police claimed Bowerman jumped into the water voluntarily and began struggling. Both said they attempted to help but were unable to rescue him.

A witness nearby called 911 after hearing cries for help, according to the criminal complaint.

Investigators said both Birch and Carnot's accounts of the incident differed after their initial statements to law enforcement.

Documents state Carnot told police he and Birch grabbed Bowerman by the hands and feet, swung him and threw him into the water, despite Bowerman saying he could not swim.

The criminal complaint also states that at one point, Birch told investigators he turned away and only heard a splash. Birch reportedly later acknowledged Bowerman may have been pushed.

Carnot is set to be sentenced Jan. 22. Birch's case remains pending and he is expected to appear in court for a status conference on Nov. 19.

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Sophie Vogelmann can be reached at 906-786-2021 or svogelmann@dailypress.net.