SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, July 23, 2024 (Gephardt Daily) — Defendant Derrick Lamone Scott has pleaded guilty to four felonies connected to a 2021 aggravated robbery in West Valley City, the Salt Lake County District Attorney’s office announced.
On Nov. 26 of that year, “the defendant and two females went into the African Braiding Salon in West Valley City. Upon entering, the defendant grabbed the 13-year-old daughter of the shop owner, pointed a gun to her head, and told her to give him money or he was going to shoot her,” says a news release issued by the DA’s Office.
“The other two individuals with the defendant tried to put the teen in zip ties, but she refused and tried to take the gun from the defendant. Mr. Scott then grabbed the girl and began hitting her in the head with his gun. The teen then ran to her mother, Monica Chayee, in the back of the shop. At that point, the defendant pointed his gun at Ms. Chayee and tried to shoot her, but the gun did not go off.”
Scott kept firing, the statement says, and “eventually, the gun fired, hitting the shop owner in the chin. The defendant and his accomplices then took money and some products from the store and left.”
The victim survived being shot, but the bullet that hit her chin traveled down her throat, through her voice box, and lodged on the left side of her carotid artery. Doctors were not able to remove the bullet, the statement says.
Scott pleaded guilty to:
- Discharge of a firearm causing serious bodily injury, a first-degree felony
- Two counts of aggravated robbery, a first-degree felony
- Child abuse, a third-degree felony
Charges dropped as part of the plea agreement were, additional charges were dropped. They were an additional charge of first-degree felony discharge of a firearm causing serious bodily injury, one count of the first-degree felony aggravated robbery charges and the third-degree felony child abuse charge will run consecutively to each other in sentencing. The defendant entered the guilty plea and was sentenced on July 22, 2024.
The defendant is currently on a detainer from Texas. When taken back to Texas, he will face a homicide charge. If convicted in Texas, the defendant will serve his sentence and then start his Utah sentence.
“The defendant’s brutal treatment of both Ms. Chayee and her child is unconscionable,” said Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill. “While on a cross-country crime spree the defendant committed crimes in our state and has now been convicted and sentenced for them. We hope that this guilty plea will help the survivors start to feel they have achieved some measure of justice for the callous attack on them and their livelihood.”
Gill thanked prosecutors and the West Valley City Police Department.
