The 14-year-old Deserae Turner was a schoolgirl at Green Canyon High School in 2017. She was a decent student and moreover a frequent Snapchat user, like most teens of her age. She lives in a small town called North Logan in Utah. It’s not the kind of place where you’d imagine the kind of ferocity she was exposed to take place.
One day while playing video games, Colter Peterson, who was school friend of Deserae, expressed Jayzon Decker that he was annoyed by Deserae’s Snapchats. Decker responded that it would be pretty easy to get free of her. According to court evidence, killing her was Decker’s idea but it was Peterson who would pull the trigger. Decker barely knew his prey but he would create the plan to get her alone.
Peterson is the one who enticed her to bring her to a waterway and there she met Decker, who fabricated to need her assistance looking for a missing ring. The original strategy was to slit her throat, but Decker stimulated his friend to shoot her in the back of the head, which he did. Then they mugged her and took away her phone and $55, which they instantly paid on snacks while she bled in the waterway. Decker even collected the bullet covering and put it in his window when he got home as an award.
Deserae was found 8 hours later by a search team when she didn’t come home that night. But she was still alive.
While she lived the cruel and ridiculous outbreak, her life would be changed forever. She was unable to speak as it should be, had strong muscle contractions and had to learn again how to walk. The left side of her body is still mostly paralyzed, her vision has been affected and she suffers from painful and regular headaches. The bullet is still stuck in her head.
Her two attackers were easy to catch and both pled guilty to the offense. The young men are now 17 and due to the nature of the attack were tried as grown-ups.
At their sentencing hearings, Deserae Turner spoke of her pain. She angrily told to Decker that he is an evil and no amount of prison is enough for him. She said that he did not even known to her and she would not have a regular teenager life any longer just because of his cruel act.
Judge Brian Cannell pass judgment on Decker to a 15-year-to-life term in the Utah State Prison for first-degree crime attempted serious murder. It will run alongside with a sentence of up to 15 years for second-degree crime obstruction of justice.
Peterson, on the other hand, cried all over his sentencing hearing, regardless of being the trigger man. Everyone look as if to agree that Decker was far more dangerous. Peterson also received a 15-year-to-life sentence. Both young men will be held in a juvenile detention facility until they’re 18.
Peterson said that he doesn’t really know what to say, but he is sorry about the things he has done and for the pain he have caused. His mother sobbed as well, questioning how her son could have taken part in such a terrible act. She asked for justice for Desarae and her family and mercy for her own son.
The attackers are now behind bars and Desarae is restoring her life back together with the help of her family, her classmates and her community. After 10 brain surgeries, she’s still a teenager after all.
This year, the now 17-year-old was crowned homecoming queen, a respect that excited her despite all the pain she’s still in. She described the night as flawless as the homecoming king helped her stand on the field while people applauded.
She said that everybody needs to know that feeling which makes her feel that she was truly loved.
