Utah sees growing trend of teenagers facing murder charges as adults
Oct 28, 2025, 7:00 AM
The Second Judicial District Court in Ogden, Utah. (Matthew Hassler)
(Matthew Hassler)
SALT LAKE CITY — Utah is seeing a growing trend in teenagers facing adult murder charges.
In just the last month, there have been four 15- to 17-year-olds arrested and charged as adults with murder, two in connection with the shooting death of other minors.
KSL Legal Analyst Greg Skordas said this is a normal practice — standard under Utah law.
“They don’t start in the juvenile court. They file directly in the adult court. And that’s part of our law that was developed several years ago in response to the gang problem,” Skordas said. “A lot of people really feel like we should have that hard line at 18, and if you’re younger than 18, you should be in juvenile court, and if you’re 18 or over, you should be in adult court. And that’s because of just the way a person develops and their mind develops.”
What’s not normal is the number out of Weber County, all at around the same time. These teens could potentially spend the rest of their lives in prison.
“We try to look at those on a case-by-case basis, but when it’s a homicide — a murder — and the offender is 16 or 17, you can be almost assured that those will begin right out of the chute in adult court,” Skordas said.
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