A teenager who helped his friend plan a gun attack on a 14-year-old girl because she was contacting him ‘too often’ on Snapchat has been jailed.
Deserae Turner, now 15, was left for dead in a dry canal in Utah in February 2017 after she was attacked by Colter Peterson for ‘being annoying’.
On Wednesday Turner watched as 17-year-old Jayzon Decker, who helped Peterson plan the attack as they were playing video games, was jailed for at least 15 years.
Peterson was handed the same sentence last week. The terms could see both boys stay behind bars for the rest of their lives.
Deserae Turner, now 15, is helped from court by her father after watching Jayzon Decker, the boy who helped plan the attack which left her crippled, sentenced to at least 15 years in jail
Decker, 17, plotted with friend Colter Peterson to lure Turner to a dry canal bed in February last year before shooting her in the head and leaving her for dead
Turner, who was praised as ‘indomitable’ by the judge, said the bullet still lodged in her brain leaves her struggling to walk, dress herself and function through debilitating headaches.
‘You are evil. I wish this had never happened,’ she told Decker, according to the Salt Lake Tribune.
‘Good luck having a life in prison and remember that, because of you, my life is a prison too.’
Prosecutors said the pair concocted the plan in February 2017 while playing video games and discussing their desire to ‘get rid’ of Turner, who was messaging Peterson on social media.
They lured her to an isolated dry canal bed behind a high school in Smithfield, about 90 miles (145km) north of Salt Lake City, then shot her and left her for dead in a ditch, prosecutors said.
Decker kept the spent shell casing ‘as a memento,’ charges said. Officers later found it displayed on his bedroom windowsill.
Decker, who was tried as an adult, pleaded guilty to attempted aggravated murder and felony obstruction of justice.
Turner, who used to do karate, ride horses and play the saxophone before she was injured (pictured), now struggles to walk and suffers debilitating headaches
Peterson was jailed for 15 years to life last week for the attack. Turner also faced him in court, telling him: ‘Welcome to hell. I’ve been here for a year now’
Peterson, who was also tried as an adult, pleaded guilty to aggravated attempted murder and robbery.
Decker’s lawyer Shannon Demler had asked for a shorter minimum sentence, saying that Decker’s role was less serious.
She said he had an otherwise clean record, and was too young for his brain to have fully matured.
His mother Billie Jean Decker said she had known him as a kind boy who loved his cousins and opened doors for women at church.
But Cannell found the teen was legally and morally just as responsible for the crime as the boy who pulled the trigger.
‘I tried to read you today. I tried to see if you were past feeling,’ the judge told the defendant. ‘I don’t know what’s scarier – the actual act, or not understanding it, or the lack of emotion.’
Turner was also in court to watch Peterson sentenced on February 2, saying she had considered him a ‘friend’ before the attack.
She also detailed how she used to ride horses, play the saxophone, and do karate before his actions robbed her of that ability.
Speaking in court on that occasion, she told Peterson: ‘You shouldn’t have messed with me, because I am tougher than a bullet.
She added: ‘Welcome to hell. I have been here for a year now.’