Wyoming News Briefs

Two killed, two wounded in Cheyenne shooting

CHEYENNE – Two adults were killed and two juveniles were seriously injured in a shooting late Monday afternoon in east Cheyenne.

The sole suspect, Andrew Weaver, 25, of Cheyenne, was taken into custody after a nearly two-hour search of the area. He was taken to Cheyenne Regional Medical Center for treatment, but the nature of his injuries was not released.

Cheyenne Police Department spokesman Officer Kevin Malatesta said a call of shots fired came in around 4:30 p.m.

Officers responded to the home at 3436 E. 11th St. to find that four people had been shot either inside or near the residence.

“The suspect fled on foot and was found nearby,” Malatesta said, noting Weaver was taken into custody in a field without further incident by CPD officers, with assistance from Wyoming Highway Patrol troopers.

Before Weaver was located, however, residents in the area were advised to stay in their homes with the doors locked for their safety.

Laramie County Coroner Rebecca Reid said one person died at the scene of the shooting, and the other died after being taken to Cheyenne Regional Medical Center.

The victims’ names were not released Monday night because officials were still in the process of notifying family members. But Malatesta said in a news release that an adult man and an adult woman died, and two juvenile males suffered life-threatening injuries.

UW proposes increased investment in Sheridan, Casper centers

SHERIDAN — A University of Wyoming official announced a university proposal to immediately invest roughly $560,000 into the Sheridan and Casper Wyoming Technology Business Centers during the Wyoming Business Council’s quarterly Board of Directors meeting last week.

UW Vice President of Research and Economic Development Ed Synakowski said the proposal stems from a review of the university’s economic development programs ordered by acting-President Neil Theobald and conversations with the leaders of the Sheridan and Casper WTBCs.

Last month, the university announced it would halt plans to transition the Sheridan and Casper WTBCs into pilot innovation centers while it conducted its internal assessment.

The innovation center concept emerged from legislation passed as part of the Economically Needed Diversity Options for Wyoming during the Wyoming Legislature’s 2018 session. The concept was designed to give local officials more control over the WTBCs and give the business incubators access to more researchers through the WBC.

Right now, the two WTBCs are co-operated by UW and public officials in Sheridan and Casper. UW would not have a stake in the incubators under the innovation center concept.

Synakowski said the directors of the Sheridan and Casper WTBCs had supported the transition because working as remote university operations have proven difficult.

After meeting with the directors of the two incubators during UW’s internal assessment, however, UW officials concluded that the university would benefit from correcting those difficulties and staying involved with the WTBCs instead of giving up their stake in the centers.

“The strong consensus view was that — with proper, well-run processes — this relationship is a net asset, with no ambiguity,” Synakowski said.

Firefighter wins $280K in damages from Laramie

LARAMIE — A firefighter for the city of Laramie was awarded $280,357 in damages this week after he sued the city for firing him almost seven years ago.

A jury awarded Bret Vance the sum after a trial this week in the Albany County Courthouse.

The verdict was the culmination of years of litigation between Vance and the city after the firefighter was fired in December 2012.

Years of court battles, appeals and overturned decisions led the city to reinstate Vance and fire him again.

Ultimately, the city’s firing of him was determined to be unjustified by Laramie’s Civil Service Commission.

Before the jury issued a verdict in favor of Vance this week, attorneys for the city had tried to argue that the firefighter was not entitled to compensation for lost wages because the Laramie Fire Department’s collective bargaining agreement with employees doesn’t explicitly entitle pay for time not worked.

The city has a zero tolerance drug policy and also requires firefighters to submit to random drug and alcohol testing. In 2010, Vance tested positive for cocaine, but was subsequently allowed to return to work after attending rehab.

After testing positive for a small amount of alcohol in late 2012, Vance — a shift commander at the time — was placed on administrative leave and subsequently fired.

In November, Vance returned to work with the city as division chief of community risk reduction around the same time a district court judge ordered he be reinstated to a position of equal pay and rank.

WWC to pursue bachelor’s program

ROCK SPRINGS — Western Wyoming Community College took one step closer to handing out bachelor degrees in applied sciences to graduates. A simple endorsement vote from the Board of Trustees on Thursday night was all that was required for WWCC to next approach the Wyoming Community College Commission about adding the four-year degrees to its offerings.

Many more steps are required before they can start printing BAS diplomas, but college staff members are excited about the possibilities created by the Wyoming Legislature giving community colleges the option to develop these programs. Western is looking into BAS degrees in business management and industrial management for people interested in leadership positions.

Board President George Eckman said it’s important to go about things the right way and not rush in to be first.

WWCC President Kim Dale noted that Central Wyoming College and Laramie County Community College are a little further ahead in the process, and that Western can learn from them.

“It’s a benefit that we have two colleges about two months ahead of us,” she said.

To be able to offer the degrees, WWCC has spent months reviewing existing classes, identifying new staff and classes that would need to be added, and making sure it has the staff and procedures ready to support the proposed programs. Next it will go before the college commission and hopefully start working with the Higher Learning Commission. If the programs are approved, WWCC hopes to start offering classes in fall 2020 or spring 2021.

Fremont County sees jump in ‘non-natural’ deaths

RIVERTON (WNE) — Fremont County Coroner Mark Stratmoen reported that rising numbers of non-natural deaths in the county are “notable,” and cited drugs and alcohol as a key factor.

Stratmoen reported his findings at the Sept. 10 meeting of the Fremont County Commissioners.

In a separate interview, the coroner defined “non-natural deaths” as any fatality resulting from suicide, homicide, accidents, or undetermined causes. In short, any death that results from circumstances other than ill health or old age could be considered non-natural.

By the second week in September in 2018, there had been four deaths by suicide, two by homicide, and 16 that were accidental in nature, for a total of 22 non-natural deaths. This year, however, there were 10 suicides, six homicides and 25 accidental deaths as of Tuesday, Sept. 10 – for a total of 41.

The fatal accidents of this year result from seven motor vehicle deaths, six due directly to drug/alcohol toxicity, five falls, two drownings, two deaths by asphyxiation and one each by carbon monoxide and hypothermia.

With non-natural and natural deaths combined, there had been 94 as of mid-September 2018. As of last Tuesday, there had been 112 for 2019.

The comparatively minimal increase in total deaths from last year to this does not match up, proportionately, with the nearly-double spike in non-natural deaths.

The coroner’s report clarifies the majority cause of non-natural fatalities in the county this year: “Including direct toxicity, drug and alcohol related deaths are 65 percent of the total of non-natural deaths,” the report states.

Woman pleads guilty to helping dispose of overdose victim’s body

GILLETTE (WNE) — The woman accused of helping Jacob Wallentine drive his dead girlfriend to an apartment building parking lot to conceal her overdose death has pleaded guilty in the case.

Shalynn M. Muniz, 23, pleaded guilty Thursday at her arraignment in District Court to conspiring to dispose of a dead human body to conceal a felony, a charge with a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

The plea was part of an agreement in which a charge of accessory after the fact in manslaughter was dismissed.

Nathan Henkes, Campbell County deputy and prosecuting attorney, and P. Craig Silva, Muniz’s attorney, will jointly recommend she get a suspended three- to six-year sentence and three years of supervised probation. She also will pay the Campbell County Sheriff’s Office the $322 cost of extraditing her from Lemhi County, Idaho, to face the charges.

A sentencing hearing has yet to be set.

Wallentine has been sentenced to up to 16 years in prison for his role in the October 2018 death of Tamlyn Delgado, 27. 

Delgado was found Oct. 3 in her car in the parking lot with a tourniquet around her arm, a puncture mark in her right arm and a syringe in her lap. Prosecutors and law enforcement agencies say that Wallentine staged the scene to make it look like a suicide because he didn’t want to go to prison.

Two charged for walking next to Old Faithful

POWELL (WNE) — Two scofflaws have been charged with trespassing at Yellowstone National Park after walking to the Old Faithful geyser for a closer look and cellphone photos last week. 

The two men — who have yet to be identified by park officials — were photographed standing next to the geyser and looking down into the steam-filled hole by other visitors. Park rangers were notified and the two visitors were ticketed and were given a chance to come back to the park — this time to appear before a federal magistrate at Mammoth Hot Springs in December. Violation notices for mandatory court appearances have been issued to both men, park officials said. 

This is not the first time visitors have been charged for trespassing around Old Faithful. Last September, Gabriel Villalva of Colorado was charged with foot travel in a thermal area, interference with a government employee, resisting a government employee and disorderly conduct. 

Trespassing can also have deadly consequences: In Yellowstone’s history, more than 20 visitors have died after being scalded by boiling waters. 

The last person to die in a geothermal accident was Colin Nathaniel Scott, 23, of Portland, Oregon, who died in a hot spring near Porkchop Geyser in June 2016. Scott and his sister illegally left the boardwalk and walked more than 200 yards in the Norris Geyser Basin.