13-year-old boy drowned to death after his 16- and 21-year-old acquaintances grabbed him by the hands and feet and threw him into deep water; 16-year-old suspect charged as an adult
Wisconsin – In a case that has stunned the Wisconsin residents and sparked national attention due to the devastating act of cruelty that ended a young life, a second suspect has now been formally charged as an adult in the tragic drowning of 13-year-old J. Bowerman—a boy who couldn’t swim and had long feared the water.
Months after Bowerman’s death on August 23, 2024, prosecutors confirmed that 16-year-old P. Carnot will join 21-year-old T. Birch in facing a second-degree reckless homicide charge. Both suspects are accused of forcibly throwing Bowerman off a pier, despite his pleas not to be pushed into the water.
The fatal incident occurred on August 20. According to court records, Bowerman, who was autistic and had no prior relationship with Birch and had only recently met Carnot, was lured to the river. Initial statements from both Birch and Carnot claimed the trio had all jumped into the water together, and that Bowerman only revealed afterward that he couldn’t swim. Carnot stated he had climbed out to call 911. But investigators quickly found inconsistencies.
As the case progressed, both stories unraveled. According to the criminal complaint, Carnot eventually admitted the truth: Bowerman had clearly said he did not want to enter the water, but the two older boys picked him up by the hands and feet and threw him in anyway. The water was described by prosecutors as choppy and unsafe for swimming that day. Realizing Bowerman was in serious trouble, Birch and Carnot reportedly jumped in to try to save him, but neither was able to get him to safety. First responders arrived and pulled the unresponsive teen from the water. He was rushed to a medical center and later flown to a hospital, where he remained on life support for three days before being pronounced dead. An autopsy confirmed the cause of death as drowning.
Following the investigation, Birch was arrested and charged with second-degree reckless homicide. He remains in custody at the county jail and is due back in court for a competency hearing on December 18. This week, authorities confirmed that Carnot will be prosecuted as an adult. He is being held at the juvenile detention center, with bond set at $100,000. Carnot is scheduled to appear in court on December 17 for his arraignment. The decision to charge Carnot as an adult comes after prosecutors determined that both suspects played a direct role in an act so reckless that it resulted in the death of a child.
Bowerman’s death has left his family devastated. His mother, T. Singer, described the horror of watching her son suffer in the hospital during his final days—seizures, involuntary movements, and the helplessness of being unable to ease his pain. Singer revealed that her son had long been the target of bullying, often due to his autism. She does not believe the incident was an accident but rather a cruel extension of the abuse he had suffered for years. Bowerman had just met Carnot before the incident and had never seen Birch prior to that day. Her son, she said, was deeply afraid of water and could not swim. She pleaded for parents and communities to raise children who are kind. “Kids, they just need to be nice,” she said. “There’s no reason to pick on people.”
As the legal process moves forward, the community continues to mourn the loss of a vulnerable child whose life ended in a senseless and preventable act of violence. Both suspects remain in custody as they await the next steps in court. The tragedy serves as a grim reminder of the consequences of peer cruelty, poor judgment, and the danger of ignoring someone’s cries for help—both literally and figuratively.
