Utah Teen Shoots 14-Year-Old Girl In Head After She ‘Annoyed’ Him On Snapchat
Deserae Turner, 14, was shot in the head and left for dead by a 16-year-old boy she considered a friend, Utah police investigators maintain. The accused shooter allegedly got annoyed because Deserea kept messaging him on Snapchat.
Two unidentified teenage boys have been arrested on attempted murder, obstruction of justice, and aggravated robbery charges in the Deserae Turner case, according to a report by the Salt Lake Tribune. Turner was found inside a filthy canal in the town of Smithfield last month. She woke up in a hospital completely confused and in a state of total disbelief after being told she had been shot in the head.
During the first court hearing in the Deserae Turner shooting case earlier this week, Cache County Sheriff’s Deputy Brian Groves said one of the two teenage suspects had complained to the other about Turner’s frequent Snapchat messages to him.
“It would be pretty easy to get rid of her,” the fellow defendant allegedly said in response, the Daily Mail reports.
The robbery charges stem from the theft of Turner’s backpack, iPod, and cell phone after the near fatal shooting. The bullet fired into Deserae’s head remains lodged in her skull. She has undergone multiple surgeries and will likely face at lease several more in the near future, followed by a lengthy recovery.
Fight for Deserae Turner! Stilling hanging after gun attack last month! https://t.co/a7Z6DVd4Pv
— Robert Madsen (@robertmadsen) March 15, 2017
Deserae Turner reportedly told several of her friends she had been getting “picked on” by the two boys who are accused of plotting her murder. When the teens invited her to meet them at the canal to sell her a knife, Turner went to meet them — and it was almost the last thing she ever did.
The 16-year-old boy who is accused of pulling the trigger allegedly intended to slit Deserae’s throat and leave her to bleed out in the rural canal. Thankfully for the Utah teen, her attackers decided to shoot her instead, and she was found before the bullet wound killed her.
Before going home after the murder to play video games, the accused teenage shooters allegedly grabbed a bullet casing from the crime scene as a keepsake of what they thought was a murder. Text messages recovered by Utah law enforcement investigators revealed a conversation between the two defendants prior to the attempted murder.
“Let’s get this done, bro,” one of the teens texted to his friend.
Deserae Turner was found by two women who were part of the volunteer effort to search for her body. After she was found, the 14-year-old girl had to be placed into a medically induced coma upon arrival at the hospital in Salt Lake City.
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On May 8, the court will determine whether the two 16-year-old defendants will be tried as adults for the Deserae Turner shooting.
“Today we provided some testimony from Deserae and obviously she is in a weakened state,” said James Swink, the Cache County Prosecuting Attorney, according to a Fox 13 News report. “She was brave to tell him what she remembered happening.”
https://youtu.be/02IlcJwb4Ck
A statement about Deserae Turner’s current condition was posted to social media by her family.
“Our sweet girl has been through so much as she battled for her life and this will be a battle she fights for a long time if not for the rest of her life. Through the blessings of our father in heaven Deserae is still with us and has made progress. We are so thankful for the hospital staff that have worked every minute of the last 19 days to keep Des alive and healing. Des is fighting so hard and we are grateful for the many small miracles along the way.”
The statement went on to state Deserae was moved into the Neuro Trauma Unit at the hospital. She is currently preparing for her next surgical procedure and then will begin an extensive rehabilitation process.
[Featured Image by Lukas Gojda/Shutterstock]
