Sandy teen charged with manslaughter in father's shooting

A 15-year-old Sandy boy faces a second-degree felony manslaughter charge in the fatal shooting of his father. Charging documents filed in 3rd District Juvenile Court describe years of alleged physical and verbal abuse.

The charge, first reported by ABC4 Utah, follows the Sept. 27 shooting at a home near 9700 South and 1200 East. As we reported Sept. 28, Sandy police had booked a juvenile after finding a man dead inside the residence. The formal charge and the detailed abuse allegations are new.

When officers arrived Sept. 27, the teen walked out of the house with his hands raised and was taken into custody. He allegedly told police, "I just couldn't take it anymore," and said he had shot his father, according to charging documents.

Inside the home, officers found the father dead in a basement hallway with two bullet wounds to the head, according to an autopsy by the Utah Office of the Medical Examiner. The teen's brother was found with a gunshot wound to the knee and was taken to a hospital in stable condition.

What charging documents allege

The brother, a Type 1 diabetic, told detectives the two boys had endured "years of verbal and physical abuse" from their father, according to charging documents reported by KSL and FOX 13.

The brother described their father as extremely angry, comparing him to the Incredible Hulk. He told police his father had broken six pairs of his glasses because his father targeted his face first. He also described being kicked three times in the back by his father, who was wearing metal-toed shoes. The abuse began when the family lived in Montana, the brother told detectives.

In one incident, the brother said his father forced him to administer a near-lethal dose of insulin because his blood sugar was not dropping fast enough. The brother told police he believes he survived because he had been secretly eating candy he hid in his room.

The day of the shooting

On Sept. 27, the father's mood changed as soon as the boys' mother left for work, according to charging documents. He began yelling and throwing things in the bathroom because the bathtub had not been cleaned to his satisfaction.

The brother told police their father struck him in the head at least 40 times over about five minutes while he cleaned the bathroom. The 15-year-old told detectives he could hear his brother crying and "felt like it could have turned on him at any second."

The teen told police he retrieved his father's gun because he was at his "last straw." He entered the bathroom. His father turned and told him to sit down and get out of his face, according to charging documents.

The brother told police he heard a gunshot and watched their father raise his hand to his nose and move toward the 15-year-old. The teen fired a second time. The brother told detectives he believes their father would have killed them both if not for the second shot.

The 15-year-old also told police he had recurring nightmares about his father getting angry, hitting him and killing him.