Casper teen pleads not guilty to Halloween night stabbing

CASPER, Wyo. — A 17-year-old high school senior charged as an adult with stabbing another girl in the abdomen on Halloween night pleaded not guilty to the aggravated assault charge in Natrona County District Court on Friday morning.

Gabriella Aultman appeared in court on release on a $75,000 cash or surety bond. Her attorney, Ryan Semerad, told Judge Josh Eames that he would be filing to have the case moved to juvenile court.

Aultman is presumed innocent unless proven or pleading guilty.

Casper police responded around 9:25 p.m. on Halloween night to the parking lot of the National Historic Trails Interpretive Center on North Poplar Street for a report of a knife assault. Officers found a 17-year-old victim conscious but suffering from a knife wound to the abdomen and a cut, bleeding hand, according to the affidavit. She was treated at the scene and taken to Banner Wyoming Medical Center, where she underwent emergency surgery.

The victim told police that she was among a big group of juveniles and some adults in the parking lot when she kicked a red Dodge Durango because it got too close to her as it was backing out of a parking spot, according to the police report.

She said Aultman got out of the passenger side with a machete-style knife, which was kept by the console between the front seats, and approached her, a crowd gathering around the two. She said she grabbed the blade of the knife to try and remove it after Aultman stabbed her.

The Durango with located a short time later with the suspect and three others inside.

Several witness statements included in the affidavit described Aultman and the victim confronting each other and Aultman stabbing the victim, with one describing the action as coming “out of nowhere.” Others witnessed a struggle but could not see the stabbing clearly. One witness who was in the vehicle with Aultman stated that the victim walked into the blade while Aultman was holding it horizontally.

Several statements indicated that groups of people were hanging out at the Trails Center, with some drinking alcohol and smoking marijuana. Aultman reportedly told police she had done both.