SPANISH FORK, Utah, April 16, 2022 (Gephardt Daily) — Family members of Riley Powell and Brelynne “Breezy” Otteson spoke shortly after the murder conviction of Jerrod Baum in the 2017 deaths of the teen sweethearts.
Bill Powell, Riley’s father, told reporters how he felt.
“Fantastic,” he said. “It’s not what we were wanting from the beginning, but it’s the best we’ve got, and it’s good.”
The only thing missing?
“Well, the death penalty was taken away from us, and that’s what we wanted,” Powell said.
Riley and Breezy, ages 18 and 17, are believed to have been murdered on or about Dec. 30, 2017. According to court documents, Baum killed Riley, and Breezy, who happened to be with boyfriend Riley, by knifing them and pushing them into an abandoned open mine.
Court documents say Baum was angry with Riley for visiting Baum’s girlfriend, Morgan Henderson, against his wishes. It was Henderson who ultimately shared the location of the teens’ bodies and her account of what had happened.
The teen couple’s bodies were recovered on March 27, 2018.
Baum’s trial was delayed, in part because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Then, on Sept. 3 of last year, Utah County Attorney Dan Leavitt announced he would no longer seek the death penalty in any cases.
“We continue to aggressively prosecute not only homicide cases but all crimes of violence whatever their type,” Leavitt said in a video, which further explained his reasoning. “That is the better route. It is the more responsible route. It will make us safer as a community in every respect.”
Powell said it was hard when Leavitt took the death penalty off the table, but hearing the jury had found Baum guilty on each of the seven charges — including aggravated murder, aggravated kidnapping, abuse or desecration of a dead human body, and obstruction of justice — “is the next best thing, and we have no complaints. At least I don’t.”
Baum said it was worth the wait.
“Now we can move on until sentencing in six weeks, and hopefully have a great outcome at that time.”
Asked how he felt hearing the verdict, Powell paused.
“Well, I don’t know if we’re allowed to say we are happy. But we were happy.”
Amanda Davis, Breezy’s aunt, said the past four years had been “a journey.
“That wait was painful in the moment, you can look back and it was just a blur… We searched for three months. We waited for four years for justice for these kids.”
Davis said hearing the guilty verdicts “was a weight lifted off my shoulders…. We were overdue, but we did it. The state did it. We all did it as a family. We did it. We’re here and we got justice for the kids.”
Going forward, Davis said she will work on a memorial park for Breezy and Riley, which she hopes will raise awareness of murder victims and “keep their memory alive.”
