Therapist starts petition for teen charged as adult in homicide case
Sep 29, 2024, 11:16 AM | Updated: Sep 30, 2024, 11:31 am
FILE: A Duchesne County Sheriff Office patrol car. (Duchesne County Sheriffs Office)
(Duchesne County Sheriffs Office)
DUCHESNE — Following the arrest of a 16-year-old boy involved in a homicide, a petition has been circulating for his “unjustly charge.”
Haegan Ray Sagers, 16, was arrested last Sunday after deputies with the Duchesne County Sheriff’s Office were dispatched to a call of a family fight in northern Duchesne County. When deputies arrived on the scene, they discovered Sager outside the residence, as well as another teen inside the residence from a gunshot wound to his upper body.
According to a Facebook public release from the Duchesne County Sheriff’s Office, Sager was taken into police custody but was then sent to Split Mountain Youth Detention Center in Vernal, Utah.
It was previously reported that Sager faces murder charges as an adult.
The petition to reduce the adult charges was put together by marriage and family therapist Casandra Moore, believing Sager is suffering from mental delay. “This child, by no fault of their own, does not possess the grey matter development and cognitive processes of a typical adult, inhibiting their ability to fully grasp the consequences of their actions,” Moore said.
The petition calls for the local court system to reconsider the charge and aims to uphold the child’s right to a fair trial.
