Cheyenne Teen Faces 20 Years in Fatal Shooting

A Cheyenne teen accused of shooting and killing his 19-year-old friend has been bound over to Laramie County District Court.

Eighteen-year-old Austin Daniel is facing up to 20 years in prison for involuntary manslaughter, after admitting to detectives that he accidentally shot Mark Dreiman in a garage at 1008 Drew Court on the night of September 17.

"Daniel told me that he had gone to the house to visit his girlfriend," said Laramie County Sheriff's Department Detective Ryan Martinez, who testified at Daniel's preliminary hearing Friday afternoon.

"Shortly after arriving at the house, he and Dreiman had gone out to the detached garage on the property to smoke a bowl of spice," added Martinez.

Martinez says Daniel told him that Dreiman had noticed a handgun in his pants and asked to see it.

"He told me that Dreiman racked a round into the chamber of the handgun," said Martinez. "At that point he took the gun away from Dreiman and removed the magazine from the gun, but then at one point he held the gun up with his right hand above Dreiman's left shoulder and pressed the trigger. He told me that he had forgotten about a bullet being in the chamber."

Daniel, who fled the scene after the shooting, was arrested on September 21 after detectives found him at the Rodeo Inn on East Lincolnway.

"Daniel agreed to show us where the gun in question was located," said Martinez. "He led us to an alley just north of 1008 Drew Court and pointed out a barrel located next to a wooden fence."

"In between the barrel and the fence was where a Smith & Wesson .380 Bodyguard handgun was located as well as the six-round magazine with six rounds in it," Martinez added.

Martinez says autopsy results showed the gun was the one involved in the shooting.

"The evidence that I heard was that they were messing around with the gun about five minutes," said Circuit Court Judge Denise Nau. "Someone who forgets in five minutes time that there's a round in the chamber of a gun that he's firing at another human being, um pretty reckless."

"Daniel's behavior after the incident -- leaving, hiding the gun, changing his clothes -- also is concerning," added Nau.

Daniel is being held in the Laramie County Jail on $25,000 cash bond. His arraignment date has not yet been scheduled.