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Farmington • A 15-year-old Bountiful boy pleaded guilty Monday to accusations that he took a shotgun to Mueller Park Junior High School in December and fired it into the ceiling before his parents wrestled him to the floor.
The teen pleaded guilty in 2nd District Juvenile Court to third-degree felony shooting towards a building and second-degree felony theft of a firearm. Several other firearms-related charges were dismissed as part of a plea deal.
Sentencing is scheduled for Feb. 23. Because the case was resolved in the juvenile court, the maximum sentence that Judge Janice Frost can impose is secure confinement in a youth detention center. The youth could remain in Juvenile Justice Services custody until he is 21 years old, although attorneys believe that is unlikely due to the boy's lack of any prior criminal history.
Prosecutors initially said they would seek to have the case moved to the adult court system. But Deputy Davis County Attorney Ryan Perkins said after Monday's hearing that in all juvenile cases, prosecutors try to balance the youth's needs with the safety of the public.
"We feel like we've done that," he said in reference to the resolution.
Shortly after the charges were filed in December, defense attorney Lindsay Jarvis said she opposed the case being moved into adult court. She said Monday that she was pleased the teen will remain in the juvenile system and receive treatment.
"[He] was desperate for some help," Jarvis said after Monday's court hearing. "He actually reported to some individuals prior to this point that he was hurting and he was struggling. And I think this was just a desperate effort to get that attention he was so desperately seeking."
Jarvis said that, even if the boy's parents hadn't intervened, it was unlikely he would have injured anyone in the school. She believes, however, that he may have wanted to die in a suicide-by-cop, she said.
The thin, shaggy-haired boy stood beside his parents and Jarvis on Monday as he entered his guilty pleas. When the judge asked him about each allegation, the boy quietly replied, "True," to each count.
On Dec. 1, the boy took two firearms — a 12-gauge shotgun and a 9mm handgun — from his home without his parent's permission. He then took the guns inside Mueller Park Junior High School, according to charging documents.
After firing a shotgun blast inside a classroom, the boy was apprehended by his parents. Bountiful Police Chief Tom Ross has said the parents went to the school looking for their son after they noticed the guns were missing.
They were inside the school when they heard the shotgun blast, according to police. The parents then went to the south wing of the school where the shot was fired, and disarmed and detained the teen, Ross said.
The Tribune generally does not identify juveniles charged with crimes unless they are certified to stand trial in adult court.