OGDEN – A prosecutor said Tuesday the indictment could be changed or added in the case of an Ogden teenager charged with robbery and murder of a shopkeeper.
The investigation into circumstances related to the Firearms Police, believed to have been used in the February 28 assassination of Satnam Singh, 65, continues.
“There is a little more investigation that may result in a change or addition to some of the charges,” Toombs said in a pretrial hearing in the Second District Juvenile Court.
According to the indictment, the 15-year-old shot at Singh four times and hit him twice with a pistol during the nightly robbery at Super Grocery.
When Ogden police arrested him at his home two days later, the teenager allegedly said he bought the gun but would not identify the seller.
Police said they found the gun and clothing the teen allegedly wore on the night of the shooting.
Toombs’ disclosure of the gun investigation came after Judge Debra Jensen asked attorneys for a progress report on the evidence in preparation for a preliminary hearing on the case.
“This is new to us,” said defense attorney Ron Nichols.
Both sides said they are still waiting for the state medicine’s autopsy report, and Nichols said he has not yet received the final report from a psychologist assessing the teen.
During a police interview, the teenager said on an affidavit that he allegedly planned the robbery “because he didn’t have as much money as he wanted”. The teenager admitted to having smoked THC the day before the robbery “but that he quit smoking so he could sober up for the robbery,” the affidavit reads.
Toombs and Nichols asked Jensen to schedule a personal preliminary hearing as an online hearing with a large amount of video evidence would be cumbersome, the prosecutor said.
Jensen said due to the gravity of the case, she might be able to state that “urgent circumstances” as defined in the COVID-19 protocols of the Utah judicial system would apply, allowing for in-person trial.
Few major hearings or trials have been held in courthouses since the spring 2020 pandemic. Most of the hearings are videoconferencing and major legal proceedings have been postponed until conditions improve.
Jensen has provisionally scheduled the pre-trial hearing for August 19-20.
The public prosecutor’s office in the Weber district has applied for the case to be brought to the district court. Jensen will make this decision at the end of the preliminary hearing.
The teenager is charged with aggravated murder and robbery, both first-degree crimes.
If the case stays in a juvenile court, the teen can only be detained up to the age of 25 after a conviction.
A reinforced murder conviction in a district court can result in life imprisonment. Utah law prohibits life sentences with no parole or death penalty for juveniles.
Since the defendant is a young person who is still being prosecuted in a juvenile court, the standard examiner has decided not to identify him.
He is being held without bail at the Weber Valley Youth Center in Ogden.
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