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The case of a teenager charged as an adult with first-degree felony murder for allegedly fatally stabbing a schoolmate has been moved to juvenile court.
The trial of Jonatan Bustos, now 17, was scheduled to begin Tuesday, until prosecutors last week filed a lesser second-degree felony manslaughter charge against the teen.
"As we sat down and reviewed the case and the facts and the evidence we were going to be able to present, it became pretty clear to us that we were not going to be able to meet the elements of murder," Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill said.
Bustos was charged last year in 3rd District Court under the state's direct-file statute with stabbing and killing 15-year-old Tayler Pankow, of West Valley City, during a dispute over an iPod. Because prosecutors now believe the crime did not rise to murder, Gill said it would have been improper to continue with the adult proceedings.
"It's our ethical and moral responsibility to get it in the proper forum," Gill said. "It needs to be in the juvenile court."
Bustos is scheduled to appear in 3rd District Juvenile Court on Friday, at which time Gill said he expects a resolution to be reached. Depending on the terms of that deal, Bustos could remain in juvenile custody until he turns 21.
Gill declined to discuss the facts of the case, or further elaborate on his office's decision to file a new petition in juvenile court.
At a preliminary hearing last November, police said Bustos claimed he stabbed his Hunter High School classmate in self-defense because had been assaulted and bullied.
Police and witnesses testified that on Aug. 30, 2010, Pankow chased Bustos down in the parking lot of a West Valley City Family Dollar, then pushed Bustos to the ground and hit him.
Bustos then stabbed Pankow twice in the abdomen, witnesses said.
The Friday before the stabbing, witnesses said, Pankow had talked to Bustos about buying an iPod and the device went missing shortly after that. Pankow believed Bustos had taken it and, along with his friends, allegedly twice confronted the teen about it.
"Jonatan kept telling [Pankow] he didn't want any trouble and denied stealing the iPod," West Valley City Police Officer Jacob Palmer testified at that hearing. "After that, he decided to arm himself with a knife for protection."
Police said they never found evidence that Bustos stole the iPod.
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