15-year-old pleads guilty to shooting at two north Casper residences last summer

CASPER, Wyo. — A 15-year-old Casper resident pleaded guilty Wednesday to two separate shootings at residences in north Casper last summer and faces up to 10 years in prison on the two aggravated assault and battery charges.

Marquis Hayman was charged as an adult and appeared before Judge Dan Forgey on Wednesday morning for a change-of-plea in both cases.

Evidence by Casper Police Department investigators included statements from multiple witnesses, similarities in shell casings recovered at both scenes, text messages from Hayman referencing the shootings and photos of Hayman on social media showing him pointing a gun at the camera and wearing the same clothes as the suspect seen in security footage.

Around 3:30 a.m. Aug. 12, police responded to the 1100 block of North Durbin Street following reports a shooting. A man inside said some of the rounds had passed close to his head. He ran outside and saw a white passenger vehicle disappearing down the street. A neighbor said she saw three teenagers running back to the car after the shots rang out.

Detectives found five bullet holes in the front of the residence — three in the window to the victim’s room and two in the fiberboard. Officers on scene observed that two of the bullet holes had gone within a couple feet of where people were sleeping. A juvenile male told police he had been feuding with Hayman on a video call, and that Hayman had threatened to shoot up the house and pointed a gold-tipped 10 mm at the camera just 20 minutes prior to the shooting.

While on the scene, dispatch got a call for loud music in east Casper and responding officers found the suspect vehicle with multiple teenagers inside. Hayman and others had reportedly run off before officers arrived, but police interviewed those who remained.

Through the interviews, police learned that Hayman had been with a group of friends on Aug 12. One of the friends was in contact with her ex-boyfriend, who was sending her hostile messages. The ex-boyfriend was the juvenile targeted on North Durbin Street.

Other witnesses in the car said that Hayman and his friend claim affiliation with the “Sun Drive Gang” and “always talk about shooting and murdering people,” according to the affidavit. Some of the witnesses also said Hayman had been bragging about shooting up a house in previous days.

On Aug. 10, a 21-year-old man returned his residence in north Casper to find two bullet holes in his bedroom window, according to the affidavit. Security footage showed a suspect approaching the house on foot around 5:30 a.m. the day before and firing two shots at the residence before running off. A friend had sent the man a screenshot of a social media post by Hayman showing a male in a mask pointing a gun toward the camera.

A review of Hayman’s Snapchat revealed messages including “The cops looking for me for 2 shootings and one of them was on him.”

Hayman appeared from custody at the Juvenile Detention Center, and Judge Forgey agreed to convert the largest bond from a $100,000 cash-only bond to a cash or surety bond.