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A 20-year-old man has been ordered to stand trial for the fatal stabbing of a teen outside a Stansbury Park elementary school.
Larry Beach is charged in 3rd District Court with first-degree felony murder and second-degree felony obstruction of justice for allegedly stabbing 17-year-old Jesse Horowitz the night of April 25.
Beach was ordered to stand trial after a preliminary hearing last week in Tooele. A scheduling hearing is set for Jan. 13.
Beach's cousin Roy Coffey, 20, has been charged with second-degree felony obstructing justice. A scheduling hearing for Coffey is set for Oct. 28.
According to charging documents, Coffey and Beach went to Stansbury High School with a dozen or so other young men on April 25 to settle a dispute over a girl.
At about 11:30 p.m. Friday, Coffey and a former classmate were exchanging messages on Twitter that quickly escalated to a challenge:
"Why don't you say that too [sic] my face?" Coffey tweeted. "You know where I am."
They and a dozen friends and supporters agreed to settle things face to face outside the Stansbury Park Elementary school.
It didn't take long — according to investigators, the fight was over quickly. Coffey won.
It wasn't until the crowd began to dissipate and most of those present turned to head back to their cars that Beach allegedly yelled at Horowitz.
Horowitz, a high school senior and football player for Stansbury, yelled back.
Before long, court documents state, the two men were throwing punches and wrestling each other to the ground.
Witnesses told police that Horowitz was "getting the better" of Beach when Coffey attempted to break the two apart.
Once Beach was back on his feet, documents allege, he ran back at Horowitz, tackled him and grabbed him in a choke hold. Witnesses told officers that's when they saw Beach make stabbing motions as Horowitz went limp.
Beach, originally from San Antonio, Texas, had been staying with Coffey for about a week before the incident, police said. Both Beach and Coffey fled the scene of the fight after Horowitz collapsed. Horowitz died before emergency responders arrived.
Police believe the knife used in the fight was tossed into a body of water near the school where the fight had taken place.
If convicted, Beach could face up to life in prison for murder and up to 15 years in prison for obstructing justice.
Coffey faces a maximum sentence of up to 15 years behind bars, but a plea deal may be in the works, as Tooele County Attorney Doug Hogan has said he will be instrumental in the case against Beach.
Prosecutors have not said what motive they believe Beach, a self-proclaimed gang member, had in attacking Horowitz, but the NAACP has alleged the attack may have been racially motivated.
Horowitz was black; the rest of the group was mostly, if not entirely, white, local NAACP chapter president Jeanetta Williams has said.