A 19-year-old Casper man was sentenced to 10 to 16 years in prison after admitting he shot and killed his 16-year-old friend during a night of video games and marijuana, a case prosecutors said was fueled by reckless gun handling and a pattern of pointing firearms at others.
The sentence closes the main chapter of a shooting that rattled families in Natrona County and raised questions about how easily teens can get access to loaded guns in social settings. Luka Wade Rasmussen pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter in the death of Riley Jacob Sears, and a judge rejected arguments for a shorter, treatment-focused alternative, sending Rasmussen to state prison with a term that will keep him behind bars for at least a decade.
The shooting happened the night of Feb. 12, 2025, at a home on the 4000 block of East Eighth Street in Casper, where three teenagers were hanging out, smoking marijuana and playing the football video game Madden, according to court records described in local coverage. Investigators said Rasmussen handled a handgun while seated with the others and discharged it while pointing it at Sears. Sears was struck and died, and the night quickly shifted from a casual gathering to a frantic emergency as adults and police were drawn to the home.
District Attorney Dan Itzen told the court this week that the case came down to a basic rule that was ignored. “You can’t smoke dope and point gun lasers with one in the chamber and expect things to work out,” he said in comments described in reporting from the sentencing hearing. Prosecutors said the firearm was a Glock-style handgun equipped with a green laser, and they argued the combination of marijuana use, casual gunplay and a loaded chamber created a predictable disaster.
Authorities identified the victim the day after the shooting. Natrona County Coroner James Whipps said Sears, 16, of Casper, was the person who died, and an autopsy was pending as investigators worked to build a timeline and determine what led to the fatal shot. In the weeks that followed, police filings and hearing testimony painted a picture of a home where teenagers were socializing without close adult supervision, with at least one gun present and handled in a way prosecutors later described as reckless and dangerous.
The case turned on competing early explanations for what happened in the seconds before the shot. Rasmussen initially told investigators the gun had been resting on his thigh when it went off, but another teen at the home said Rasmussen was pointing the gun at Sears, according to accounts of witness statements summarized in local reports. Prosecutors emphasized that the difference mattered because it went directly to the level of carelessness involved. A gun firing from someone’s lap suggests a different scenario than a gun being aimed at another person, and investigators said they pursued the version supported by witness statements, physical evidence and later findings.
Prosecutors also said they had reason to believe the gun-pointing behavior did not start that night. During earlier proceedings, Itzen introduced photos from a teen witness’s phone showing Rasmussen pointing the same gun at that witness on two separate dates, including Feb. 10, 2025, two days before Sears was killed, according to hearing coverage. Investigators said those images supported the state’s claim that Rasmussen had a habit of treating the weapon like a toy and using it to threaten or intimidate, despite warnings from others not to point a gun at people.
The aftermath of the shooting added another layer to the case. Police said the father of the third teen told Rasmussen after the shot to get rid of the gun. Investigators later recovered the weapon behind a shed on the property, according to statements attributed to police filings. Prosecutors argued that the effort to hide the firearm showed panic at best and consciousness of wrongdoing at worst, even though Rasmussen ultimately faced a single count of involuntary manslaughter rather than an intentional homicide charge.
Rasmussen was 18 when he was arrested and first appeared in court, and the case moved through the justice system over the next year. A judge set bond at $500,000 early in the proceedings, according to local radio reporting. Rasmussen later entered a not-guilty plea as the case advanced, then negotiated a resolution that spared him a trial. On Oct. 7, 2025, he pleaded guilty in Natrona County District Court to involuntary manslaughter before Judge Kerri M. Johnson, accepting responsibility for causing Sears’ death through unlawful or reckless conduct.
The guilty plea set the stage for a sentencing fight over how much prison time was appropriate and what message the court should send about firearms and teen behavior. In Wyoming, involuntary manslaughter carries a maximum of 20 years in prison, and prosecutors asked the court to treat the case as a serious, avoidable killing rather than a harmless “accident.” The defense, meanwhile, argued that Rasmussen did not set out to kill his friend and should be given a chance at rehabilitation as a young adult who made a devastating mistake.
At sentencing on Feb. 24, Johnson imposed a prison term of 10 to 16 years. She also declined to place Rasmussen in the Youthful Offender Transition Program, a boot camp-style option that can shorten incarceration for eligible offenders, according to local reporting. Johnson said she struggled with the decision but pointed to the risks created by adults allowing the environment that led to the shooting. “Where the adult of the house was in all this, I don’t know,” she said, underscoring the case’s broader theme of teenagers handling weapons in spaces where adults were either absent or not intervening.
The courtroom heard grief from Sears’ family as they confronted the loss of a child and the permanency of a death caused by one trigger pull. Sears’ father, Jacob Sears, delivered a victim impact statement describing the moment he learned his son had been shot and then told by a detective that Riley had died. He said the months since have felt like a cycle of shock and disbelief. “Since February 12, 2025, it’s been a recurring nightmare,” he said, as described in coverage of the hearing. The family’s statements were aimed at making sure the court focused not only on Rasmussen’s age but on the lifelong hole left by a teenager’s death.
Friends and relatives have described Riley Sears as a lively teen who was close to his family and had a playful streak. In his obituary, he was remembered as someone who loved music, enjoyed anything with wheels and spent time skateboarding with his father and brother. He was also described as a strong gamer who took pride in beating older friends, a detail that turned painfully ironic given the setting of his death. For the family, those memories have become a public record of who Riley was beyond the headlines and the court filings.
The case has also resonated in Casper because it mirrors a familiar pattern in fatal shootings involving young people: a gun present at a hangout, poor decisions while impaired, and a moment of bravado that cannot be taken back. Prosecutors leaned hard on the idea that pointing a gun at someone, even in jest, is not play. They said the social media evidence and witness accounts showed Rasmussen embraced a tough persona and handled the gun in ways that made an eventual tragedy more likely. The defense has emphasized that Rasmussen’s conduct was reckless, not premeditated, and that he will carry the consequences for the rest of his life.
Even with a sentence now imposed, some questions remain unresolved in the public record, including how the gun ended up in the room with teenagers that night and what adults knew about marijuana use and firearms at the home. Those details were raised indirectly during sentencing as the judge pointed to adult responsibility, but the criminal case focused on Rasmussen’s actions and the resulting death. No separate adult charges were detailed in the public reports tied to the sentencing.
What comes next is largely procedural. Rasmussen is expected to serve his sentence in Wyoming’s prison system, with the possibility of release determined by the state’s parole process within the bounds of the 10-to-16-year term. He also retains the right to appeal, though appeals typically focus on legal errors rather than re-arguing the basic facts admitted in a guilty plea. For Sears’ family, the court’s decision ends one phase of the ordeal while cementing another: a future measured by anniversaries and reminders of a life cut short during an ordinary night that turned deadly.
Author note: Last updated February 27, 2026.