MARINETTE COUNTY (NBC 26) — One of the suspects charged in a fatal Marinette drowning case has entered a plea of not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect, according to court records.
Tylor Birch, 22, appeared in court Tuesday for a status conference, where the plea was formally entered.
Court records show a status conference was scheduled for Oct. 9 as the state seeks examinations.
Birch is one of two defendants charged in connection with the death of 13-year-old Jakob Bowerman in August 2025.
Seventeen-year-old Peyton Carnot also faces charges in the case. A status conference for Carnot is scheduled for next week after his defense attorney requested more time to review a plea offer from prosecutors.
According to the criminal complaint, Carnot told detectives he and Birch grabbed Bowerman by the hands and feet and ‘swung him off the edge’ of a Marinette pier. Bowerman died three days after first responders rescued him from the water.
During a court hearing last summer, Marinette County District Attorney DeShea Morrow said Carnot and Birch did try to help Bowerman as he drowned.
“But that doesn’t change what they did to start this process, which resulted in the death of the victim,” Morrow said.
