Second teen pleads guilty in shooting of Cache County girl left for dead in dry canal

Jayzon Decker at an earlier court date. Photo: Pool

LOGAN, Utah, Dec. 19, 2017 (Gephardt Daily) — A second teenage boy has pleaded guilty in the shooting of Deserae Turner, a Cache County girl who was 14 in February when she was left for dead in a dry canal bed.

Jayzon Decker, now 17, pleaded to reduced charges on Tuesday in First District Court. He admitted to planning Turner’s murder. The shooter was Colter Danny Peterson, who pleaded guilty to reduced charges in October.

Decker pleaded guilty to first-degree felony attempted aggravated murder and second-degree felony obstruction of justice. Aggravated robbery and additional obstruction of justice charges were dismissed as part of a plea deal.

It was the same deal Peterson accepted in October. He has not been sentenced yet. A status hearing for Peterson is scheduled for Jan. 29. Decker’s sentencing is scheduled for Feb. 7. Both face a maximum sentence of life in prison.

The boys had arranged to meet Turner, an Amalga resident, in the dry canal bed next to Smithfield’s Sky View High School after classes on Feb. 16.

According to testimony, the two boys intended to kill Turner. Peterson shot her in the head from behind, and the two left her for dead after stealing $55, an iPod and a phone from her backpack.

When Turner did not come home from school, her parents reported her missing and people began to search. Turner was found by two women who knew her family.

The shooting left the bullet and several fragments in Turner’s brain. She suffers from partial blindness and a weakening on the left side of her body, her mother has said. Turner was hospitalized for nine weeks before returning home to recover.

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