Two 16 year old boys charged with the attempted murder of 14-year-old Deserae Turner. He and his friend allegedly shot Deserae in the back of the head near a community canal last month after getting tired of her excessive Snapchat.
The 14 year old was found barely alive in the canal in February. She remains in the hospital with life-threatening injuries but was able to be interviewed by a detective about what she recalls from that day of the ordeal. A video shown in court showed the girl was shocked to hear it was her friends who’d allegedly hurt her. The suspect reportedly cried in court as the video was shown.
Cache County Attorney James Swink told authorities that as evidenced by messages on social media, the boys had been planning to physically assault Deserae for weeks and that the boy who appeared in court admitted as much during his hearing. He said they’d originally planned to slit her throat because they horribly tired with all her Snapchat messaging but when they couldn’t go through with the first plan, they allegedly used the gun they brought instead. They then reportedly took her things and ran, leaving her fighting for her life by the water.
The moment the boy allegedly admitted to witnessing the shooting but denied planning it. Detectives handling the case found the shell casing for the gun they allegedly used in his room. “Admissions are always compelling and they are always good evidence,” Swink told the station.
Both are charged with attempted murder, aggravated robbery, and obstructing justice.
Her family said Deserae is still fighting hard to stay alive but that she has made progress and has been moved to the neurotrauma unit of Primary Children’s Hospital, according to ABC 4 Utah. She is to undergo another surgery and will need to go through extensive rehabilitation, her family said.
