Cheyenne Man Gets 20-30 In Big Horn Motel Meth Murder

Joshua Bowen of Cheyenne has been sentenced to 20-30 years in prison for his role in a 2014 killing that investigators say was the result of a robbery to get money for drugs.

Joshua Bowen was originally charged with first degree murder for his role in the December 7, 2014 killing of 48-year-old Anthony Hayward at the Big Horn Motel in Cheyenne. Investigators say the killing grew out of an attempt to steal $20 from Hayward to buy methamphetamine,.

Prosecutors say Bowen and another man, Dagoberto Ontiveros,  killed Hayward by punching and kicking him, crushing the victim's larynx  and causing him to suffocate.

Bowen in December agreed to plea agreement of no contest to the lesser charge of second degree murder. He later tried to retract the agreement, but Judge Thomas Campbell refused to allow him to back out of the plea agreement.

Dagoberto Ontiveros accepted a similar plea agreement to Bowen's in the case and was sentenced to 20-24 years in prison in February.

Kimberly Brewer of Cheyenne pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact in the case for trying to hide some of Heyward's property to stifle the investigation. She was sentenced to 25 to 28 months in prison on those charges in February.