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A spokeswoman for the family of a 14-year-old Cache County girl, who police say was shot in the head and left in a ditch, is out of her medically induced coma but still in critical condition.
Deserae Turner's family said in a statement Friday that she is "a fighter with a strong will to live" but that they expect a very long road ahead.
The statement was sent out by Jill Parker, a Cache County employee who is acting as a family spokeswoman.
Authorities say that on Feb. 16, two 16-year-old boys lured the girl to the ditch in town of Smithfield by promising to sell her a knife.
People who knew the girl and were looking for her, found her in the early hours of Feb. 17.
The boys — who are being held in the Cache County juvenile facility — have been charged in 1st District Juvenile Court with attempted aggravated murder, aggravated robbery and other counts in connection with the shooting.
The Associated Press is not naming the boys because they are juveniles.