Background: Courtroom footage of Tylor Birch”s appearance on April 2 (WBAY). Inset: Jakob Bowerman (Bowerman Funeral Home).
A Wisconsin man accused of being partly responsible for the drowning death of a teenager with autism has been found competent to stand trial.
Tylor Birch, 21, appeared in a Marinette County court on Thursday where both the defense and the prosecution accepted a psychologist’s report that he was able to stand trial for a charge of reckless homicide. Birch and 16-year-old Peyton Carnot are both charged with reckless homicide in connection with the death of 13-year-old Jakob Bowerman.
As Law&Crime previously reported, Birch and Carnot allegedly grabbed Bowerman by his hands and feet and swung him off a pier into a lake. Bowerman, who could not swim, died as a result of drowning.
According to courtroom reporting by local ABC affiliate WBAY, Birch was found competent at a previous hearing, but the defense contested that finding. Birch appeared remotely for his court appearance, where both sides agreed that the competency report could stand. His next court appearance is scheduled for April 30.
Carnot, who is being tried as an adult, is scheduled to appear in court on June 4 for a status conference.
In a criminal complaint obtained by local Fox affiliate WLUK, Carnot told police that he and Birch had “thrown the victim into the water after the victim has expressed he didn’t want to go in.” After Bowerman landed in the water, he allegedly told Birch and Carnot that he could not swim. The two defendants then reportedly tried to pull Bowerman out of the water, but were unable.
Bowerman was pulled from the water and taken to a hospital, where he spent several days on life support before he died on Aug. 23, 2025. His cause of death was listed as drowning. His mother said her son, who had autism and had a history of being bullied, did not know Birch or Carnot before that fateful day on Government Pier.
