Background: News footage of Government Pier in Marinette, Wis. (WBAY). Inset: Jakob Bowerman (Bowerman Funeral Home).
A Wisconsin mother whose 13-year-old son died after he was allegedly thrown off a pier by a 16-year-old and a 21-year-old said that he had been bullied for having autism.
Jakob Bowerman, 13, died at St. Vincent’s Hospital in Green Bay days after Marinette police said he was pulled from the water near Government Pier on Aug. 20. Police said that two people — a 16-year-old boy and a 21-year-old man, Tyler R. Birch — were arrested in connection with the incident. Birch was charged with reckless homicide, according to court records.
Bowerman’s grieving mother, Taylor Singer, took to local news outlets including local ABC affiliate WBAY to tell her son’s story and speak out against the bullying she said that he endured for most of his short life.
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Singer told WBAY that she had been at Government Pier earlier in the day on Aug. 20, and just as she pulled up to her home, she was met by police officers. The officers informed her that Jakob was involved in a “drowning accident.” Singer said, “I was just down there watching everything, but it was actually my son that was there.”
WBAY reported that police told Singer that the recovered camera footage captured the two suspects allegedly pushing Jakob into the water. Singer said that Jakob was severely afraid of deep water and did not know how to swim. She told local NBC affiliate WGBA, “Jakob wouldn’t jump into that water. I got a call the next day saying that what those kids said were not true, that he was actually pushed into the water.”
Singer explained to WGBA that Jakob had only recently met the 16-year-old suspect and had never met Birch.
According to a criminal complaint obtained by local CBS affiliate WFRV, Birch and the 16-year-old suspect blamed each other for how Jakob ended up in the water. Police said that the 16-year-old eventually admitted that he and Birch threw Jakob off the pier after grabbing him by his hands and feet.
Marinette Police said in their Facebook post that Jakob was pulled from the water and first responders performed lifesaving efforts before transporting him to Aurora Medical Center-Bay Area. The teen was then flown to St. Vincent’s Hospital where he remained on life support for three days before his death on Aug. 23. An autopsy confirmed that his cause of death was drowning.
Singer told WBAY, “Kids, they just need to be nice. There’s no reason to pick on people. There’s no reason to think it’s funny to push kids off a pier. I don’t know if they thought it was funny or what. But we need to do better with our kids and teach them to respect one another.”
Both the 16-year-old and Birch remain in custody. Birch appeared in court on Thursday, charged with second-degree reckless homicide.
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Author: Jamie Frevele
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