Tylor Birch appears in court via video conference from the Marinette County Jail Aug. 28, 2025 in connection with the drowning death of Jakob Bowerman. (Courtesy Marinette County courts/Zoom)
MARINETTE, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – A competency exam was ordered Monday for Tylor Birch, one of the suspects in drowning death of 13-year-old Jakob Bowerman.
Birch, 21, is charged with second-degree reckless homicide for the Aug. 20 death at a Marinette pier.
Defense attorney Scott Lyon raised the issue of competency, which is Birch’s ability to understand the court proceedings and assist in his own defense.
Judge James Morrison ordered a psychiatric exam, the results of which will be discussed Oct. 29.
According to the criminal complaint, Birch and a 16-year old boy, only identified by his initials, P.C., initially told police all three males jumped into the water from the Marinette pier Aug. 20. Birch and P.C. told police Bowerman was struggling to swim and they tried to help him get out of the water, but couldn’t, so they called 911.
“Law enforcement did further investigation and found out that is not what happened. That actually Mr. Birch, along with the co-actor, had actually thrown the victim into the water after the victim has expressed he didn’t want to go in, especially there,” Marinette County District Attorney DeShea Morrow said at a previous court hearing. “He wanted to go in where it was shallower and basically, they picked him up and threw him in.”
Morrow said Bowerman was fully clothed when he went into the water, including wearing his shoes and socks.
“Last Wednesday, when this incident occurred, the weather conditions were not favorable for swimming — very wavy, windy,” Morrow said earlier. “It’s alleged in the facts, and I think pointed out by a witness, the three went to the end of Government Pier, toward the end of the ship channel, almost the beginning of where Green Bay starts. The water was choppy. Not good swimming weather at all.”
The district attorney gave Birch and P.C. credit for trying help, but said their actions were still reckless.
“That doesn’t change what they did to start this process, which resulted in the death of the victim.”
Bowerman, who was taken to the hospital after being pulled from the water, died Aug. 23. An autopsy listed his cause of death as drowning.
Comments