This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Prosecutors say they want a 14-year-old boy who is accused of shooting another teen outside a Sandy middle school last week to face charges in adult court.

The boy is charged in 3rd District Juvenile Court with first-degree felony attempted murder and several weapons charges, accused of shooting a 16-year-old boy twice in the head on Oct. 25 outside of Union Middle School. The victim survived the shooting, and is currently hospitalized.

After a brief hearing in juvenile court on Tuesday, Deputy Salt Lake County District Attorney Thaddeus May said the merits of the case justify it being sent to adult court, and said prosecutors have initiated that certification process.

Ultimately, though, it will be up to 3rd District Juvenile Judge Tupakk Renteria whether the boy's case remains in the juvenile court system or whether he will face penalties in the adult court. The judge will make that decision after a certification hearing, where he will hear evidence of the alleged crime, as well as background about the defendant's medical and psychological records, along with his family history.

That hearing has not yet been set. Instead, the 14-year-old will be back in court next Thursday for a scheduling hearing.

During the hearing on Tuesday, the boy did not enter the courtroom after his attorney, Tasha Williams, told the judge that she was unaware a television camera would be present.

The 14-year-old got the gun from his mother's closet, according to charging documents, and brought it to school last Tuesday because he and the older boy had decided to fight and he was afraid the older boy "would do something."

The defendant told police "he was just going to point the gun at him and, hopefully, he'd get scared," charges state.

But when the older boy, a student at Hillcrest High School, walked up to him and said, "Let's just do this right now," the 14-year-old pulled out the gun and pulled the trigger, charges state.

He admitted shooting the older boy twice, charges state, and that he had told the victim "he would re-unite him with his mother, who had passed away."

In addition to making fun of the older boy's deceased mother, a friend of the victim has told The Tribune that the 14-year-old was dating the victim's former girlfriend.

A teacher who was outside on duty at the time of the episode told police she saw the older boy walking toward the 14-year-old with his hands up and "realized there was a fighting scenario," charges state.

The she heard a shot, saw the 14-year-old pointing a black gun and the older boy starting to fall, charges state.

The teacher said there were three shots, and that a fourth shot was prevented when the gun "jammed."

When she reached the boys, the older one was on the ground bleeding, while the 14-year-old had dropped to his knees, charges state. The teacher told police she grabbed the gun from the younger boy's hand.

The 14-year-old was arrested at the scene and taken to a juvenile-detention center, where he will remain in custody until at least his next court hearing.

Charges say the 16-year-old boy was shot on the right side of his skull above the ear, with an exit wound on top of his head. He also was shot on the left side of his neck, a couple of inches behind his ear, with an exit wound in his left cheek.

Because he is a juvenile, police have not released the name of the injured boy. The Tribune generally does not identify juveniles charged with crimes unless they have been certified to stand trial in adult court.

jmiller@sltrib.com