Mother Of Kearns Teen Shot And Killed Upset With Manslaughter Charge

TOOELE, Utah – A 15-year-old boy accused of shooting and killing his stepbrother denies the felony charges of manslaughter and obstruction of justice in a Tooele courtroom on Thursday afternoon.

The shooting happened nearly two weeks ago inside a home in Kearns. The hearing took place in Tooele because that’s where the boy’s mother lives.  The case will now be moved to Salt Lake County as a result of the boy denying the charges.

The family of the boy who was killed, Jared Jacobsen, 16, was also in court.  They believe that the 15 year old should be charged with murder, not manslaughter. They say this was a case of murder not recklessness.

“Like a snake, he shot my son in the back of the head. That’s not an accident,” said Theresa Toledo, Jacobsen’s mother to KSL. “He didn’t shoot my son in the face he didn’t shoot him in the body, he waited until his back was turned and shot him in the back of the head.”

“It’s murder, cold blooded murder,” said Jacobsen’s uncle, Travis Kelly.

Kelly says the evidence is what the 15-year-old did after the shooting. “You don’t accidently hurt someone like that or kill someone like that and then not wake anybody up or scream for help. If it was an accident you are going to be scared and scream for help. You’re not going to change your clothes and get cleaned up and then go tell everybody.”

On the day the shooting happened, the 15-year-old told police that he and Jared were playing with a shotgun when it accidently went off while Jared was holding it. He says the two didn’t realize the gun was loaded. At that time police were calling it an accidental shooting.

But according to newly released court documents the medical examiner found that “the wound on the top left side of J.J’s head, previously theorized to be an exit wound, appeared to be an entrance wound and that J.J. may have been shot at a downward angle.”

Police then went back for a second interview with the 15-year-old who then told them, “that he and J.J. were hanging out in J.J’s bedroom before school. [He] grabbed the gun, pointed it at J.J. and pulled the trigger. [He] stated that he thought the shotgun was unloaded, but the gun went off and J.J. fell over.”

Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill tells KSL that they filed charges according to what they believe they could prove in court. “We believe that the appropriate charge is manslaughter,” said Gill. “We make our decisions and charging decisions based on the evidence that we have not on the emotion of it, not on some speculation and possibilities of what may have happened.”