LOGAN, Utah, Feb. 7, 2018 (Gephardt Daily) — A 17-year-old boy who was an accomplice to the shooting of the then 14-year-old Deserae Turner was sentenced Wednesday morning in a Logan courtroom.
Jayzon Decker, who was 16 at the time of the crime, was sentenced to the maximum sentence of 15 years to life for attempted aggravated murder by 1st District Judge Brian Cannell. The judge also imposed a sentence of 1 to 15 years for obstructing justice, which will run concurrently, rather than one sentence after the other.
Decker pleaded guilty as an adult in December to first-degree felony attempted aggravated murder, and second-degree felony obstruction of justice.
Decker helped the then 16-year-old Colter Danny Peterson lure Turner to a muddy canal bed in Smithfield last February with plans to kill her. Peterson later told police they shot Turner in the back of the head, then left her to die.
Peterson was sentenced last week to 15 years to life in prison for attempted murder and 1 to 15 years for robbery. The sentences will run concurrently, 1st District Court Judge Kevin Allen ruled.
Peterson pleaded guilty in October, also as an adult, to first-degree felony attempted aggravated murder, and robbery, a second-degree felony.
Peterson and Decker reportedly arranged to meet Turner after Peterson became annoyed by her sending of Snapchat messages. The boys lured Turner to the canal bed near Smithfield’s Sky View High School on Feb. 17 of 2017.
After abandoning an initial plan involving a knife, Peterson shot the girl with a .22 caliber handgun, and the boys left after stealing some of Turner’s belongings.
Turner was found about eight hours later by a family friend who had been searching. Turner was transported to the hospital, and began her limited recovery. The bullet fired at her is still in her brain, and caused permanent physical and cognitive damage.
Prosecutors have said that although Decker did not pull the trigger, it was his idea to kill Turner as a way to end her unwanted attention to Peterson.
