Jocelyn Cherese Watt, a 30-year-old Northern Arapaho woman from Riverton, Wyoming, was killed during a home-invasion attack on the night of January 4, 2019, inside a residence on East Main Street. The next day, Riverton police were dispatched to a report of two unresponsive people inside the home, where Watt and her partner, Rudy Perez, were found shot to death.
Early public updates offered few details beyond identification, leaving the community with the stark image of a young couple killed in their own bedroom and no clear answers about who had come through the door.
For years, the case lingered in that unnerving space between tragedy and silence. Investigators asked for help, and loved ones spoke about living with the fear that whoever did it was still nearby. At the two-year mark, reporting noted that no arrests had been made, even as family members continued to press for information and pleaded for anyone who knew something to come forward.
The break came much later, after investigators dug into large volumes of digital evidence. Prosecutors later described how early leads—including DNA-related work—did not produce answers, and how the investigation shifted to search warrants and extensive cell phone data. In court, the state said a phone had been used to watch YouTube outside the home around the time of the killings, a detail that helped investigators narrow in on the group involved and move from rumor and speculation to names, interviews, and charges.
Authorities ultimately tied the deaths to a small group connected to the Wind River area and Riverton, describing a plan driven by drugs and a desire for quick profit. Brandon Donald Monroe was accused of being the shooter and later admitted in court that he went to the home intending to steal marijuana and money, and that he shot both victims during the break-in. Court descriptions and case reporting portrayed the night as a reckless spiral—teenagers using methamphetamine, traveling into town, forcing entry, and turning a robbery into a double homicide.
As the case worked through the courts, four people were identified as criminally responsible in different ways. Monroe reached a plea agreement and pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree murder; he was later sentenced to two life terms in prison to be served concurrently, with restitution ordered to the victims' compensation fund. Reporting described the sentencing as emotional, with Watt's family addressing the court about the lasting pain of losing her and the years it took for the case to move.
The other defendants faced outcomes tied to their roles that night. Bryce Teran, described as the driver, pleaded no contest to aiding and abetting burglary and was sentenced to a prison term of no less than eight and no more than ten years, with restitution ordered to both families; prosecutors said his statements to investigators were crucial in identifying the shooter and untangling what happened. Patrick SunRhodes Jr., who was described as having accompanied Monroe into the residence and witnessed the killing of Perez, entered a no-contest plea to an amended charge of aiding and abetting aggravated robbery and was sentenced to 18 to 20 years in prison, with restitution ordered and the court noting the gravity of his involvement and his silence for a long stretch afterward. Korbin Headley, reported to have been passed out drunk in the vehicle used to travel to and from the home, faced felony allegations including accessory-after-the-fact; he ultimately received a three-year prison sentence ordered to be served under supervised probation, with additional prison time suspended unless probation was violated, and one count dropped following the court's acceptance of a no-contest plea.
