A 15-year-old boy accused of fatally shooting JoJo Lee Brandstatt on a West Valley City golf course earlier this year suffered years of child abuse at the hands of his parents, a juvenile probation officer testified Tuesday.

Officer David Christensen told the court the boy's parents used physical abuse as discipline, including incidents in which his mother beat him with a folding chair and his father threw a hammer at him.

"He's learned that problems are solved through physical violence," Christensen testified at a hearing in 3rd District Juvenile Court to determine whether the boy can be tried as an adult. "Anger was solved through violence, and that put him at risk for future violence."

Yet Christensen, who compiled a report on the boy's background for the court, recommended the boy should go into the adult system. Based on the boys' risk factors, his rehabilitation will take a longer period of time than the juvenile system could accommodate, Christensen told Judge Andrew Valdez.

It's also a matter of public safety, he said.

"It's in the best interest of the community," Christensen said. "They should be protected from those who kidnap, try to steal and kill."

The boy told Christensen his parents used numerous objects -- including a chair, hammer and hangers -- to hit him, Christensen testified. In one incident when he sneaked out to go to a volleyball game, his mother tracked him down and slapped him and also hit him in the legs repeatedly with a folding chair, Christensen said.

Another time, the boy's father had asked him to move the family car. When the boy's cousins grabbed the keys and drove the car, the boy's father threw a hammer at him, striking him in the behind, Christensen said.

Christensen's report said the boy had difficulties with his parents' divorce in sixth grade, and that he had to frequently move from homes and schools.

"There was a feeling of abandonment," Christensen said. "He longed to have a relationship with his father, and his father was never there. He hated moving around, he hated moving to different schools, he hated being the new kid on the block."

A witness for the defense, Sam Goldstein, argued the boy would be best kept in the juvenile system.

Goldstein, a clinical neuropsychologist and professor at the University of Utah School of Medicine, conducted a private mental evaluation on the boy at the request of the defense team. He testified the boy's best chances at rehabilitation are in the juvenile system.

But prosecutors attacked that theory by emphasizing the boy's apparent attraction to violence.

Part of Goldstein's evaluation included examining the boy's reaction to a violent television episode. Goldstein testified that after watching images of violence, the boy stated, "I want to do it again, but I know it's not right." Goldstein said it's unclear if the boy's comment was referring to killing Brandstatt or simply participating in acts of violence with his gang.

If transferred and convicted in the adult system, the boy faces up to life in prison for Brandstatt's murder and associated charges. If left in the juvenile system, he will remain in secure confinement until age 21.

mrogers@sltrib.com