MARINETTE, Wis. (WBAY/Gray News) – A 21-year-old man is now formally charged in the drowning death of a 13-year-old boy in Wisconsin.

Tylor Robert Birch was charged with second-degree reckless homicide for the death of 13-year-old Jakob Bowerman.

On August 20, officers, EMS, and the Marinette Fire Department responded to a distress call at Menekaunee Harbor Boat Launch in Marinette, Wisconsin. Jakob was found unresponsive in the water.

According to the criminal complaint, Birch and a teenager, identified as P.C. in the complaint, initially claimed Jakob voluntarily jumped into the water along with them.

However, after police investigators noted it was strange that Jakob willingly jumped into the water while fully clothed, the complaint said.

Jakob’s mother said police told her they found camera footage of Jakob being pushed into the Menominee River. Birch and P.C. later admitted to throwing him in during horseplay, despite knowing Jakob could not swim.

P.C. claimed it was Birch’s idea to throw Jakob in the water.

The complaint said Jakob struggled in the water, and attempts to rescue him were unsuccessful. ​He was taken to Aurora Medical Center and later to St. Vincent’s Hospital in Green Bay, where he died on Aug. 23.

Jakob’s mother stated that the boys bullied Jakob, who was afraid of deep water. The complaint noted that Jakob asked Birch and P.C. if they could go swimming later, at a different area that had shallower water.

The criminal complaint said a preliminary report from a Marinette County medical examiner, pending completion of an autopsy, lists the cause of death as drowning.

Birch was arrested on Aug. 21.

He was charged with second-degree reckless homicide, a Class D felony, which carries a maximum penalty of 25 years imprisonment and/or a $100,000 fine.

In court on Thursday, a judge set $500,000 cash bond for Birch.

Birch was ordered to have no alcohol or controlled substances, and no contact by any means with the victim’s family, including third-party or through social media. He was also ordered to have no contact with anyone under the age of 18 and no contact with P.C.

The complaint noted P.C. stayed at a homeless shelter in Menominee, Michigan. ​Birch admitted to meeting P.C. at the shelter and allowing him to stay at his apartment.

Birch’s next court hearing is scheduled for September 22, at 10:30 a.m.