A 14-year-old boy from Wyoming was stabbed to death while trying to protect his girlfriend from two masked thugs in a shopping mall, police have revealed.
Bobby Maher was killed after he confronted the two balaclava-clad teens for harassing his middle school sweetheart.
The incident occurred at the Eastridge Mall in Casper on Sunday afternoon, the Cowboy State Daily reported.
Maher had rushed to the mall after his girlfriend had called to say the two suspects were allegedly following her and a friend around the shopping complex.
The suspects have been identified as Jarreth Plunkett and Dominique Harris, both 15.
Once he arrived, Maher tried to usher his girlfriend and her friend away from the mall in a bid “to keep them safe,” according to the criminal complaint.
Maher repeatedly told the two suspects to leave, the court papers charge.
Surveillance footage of the ordeal allegedly showed Maher backing away from his alleged attackers, who were wearing hooded balaclava-style masks.
According to the complaint, Plunkett told Maher “to swing on him several times.”
Harris was then allegedly caught on camera picking up Maher by his waist and slamming him to the ground before repeatedly punching his face.
Moments later, Plunkett stepped in and could be seen plunging the “kitchen-style knife” into the victim.
Meanwhile, the two suspects quickly fled.
They allegedly dumped the bloodied knife and their balaclava masks in the parking lot, police said.
After being arrested a short time later, the suspects told police officers the victim had called them “freaks.”
They allegedly also confessed to having only just stolen the knife from a Target inside the mall, the complaint says.
One of the victim’s friends later told cops that the two suspects attended the same Dean Middle School as the victim, but that they only knew them as “JJ and Dom.”
Maher’s friend added there had been an encounter between the victim and suspects at a park at some point before the fatal knifing.
Plunkett was slapped with charges of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder, aggravated assault and battery, and theft.
Harris, meanwhile, is charged with conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, aggravated assault and battery, and misdemeanor theft.
During an initial court hearing on Monday, the suspects, who were charged as adults, had their bonds set at $500,000 and $450,000, respectively.
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