- A 17-year-old Duchesne boy has pleaded guilty to manslaughter in his stepbrother's death.
- Haegan Ray Sagers admitted to recklessly causing 14-year-old Malaki Porter's death, accepting a plea deal that reduced the charge from murder.
DUCHESNE — A 17-year-old boy has pleaded guilty to killing his stepbrother.
On Sept. 22, 2024, police responded to a family fight and found Haegan Ray Sagers, who was 16, outside his home and 14-year-old Malaki Porter inside with a wound to his upper body. Sagers was taken into custody.
Sagers lived with his father, his father's girlfriend and her son — Porter.
Sagers was initially charged as an adult with murder, a first-degree felony, but pleaded guilty May 27 to a reduced charge of manslaughter, a second-degree felony, as part of a plea deal. Prosecutors also agreed to dismiss a charge of felony discharge of a firearm, a first-degree felony, as part of that plea bargain.
In his plea statement, Sagers admitted to recklessly causing his stepbrother's death.
He was scheduled for a two-day justification hearing to argue that the charge should be dismissed because he acted in self-defense. But that hearing was canceled as a result of the plea deal.
In an earlier hearing, Sagers' attorney, John Easton, said the two teenagers got into an argument that escalated until Porter came after Sagers with a gun.
"The alleged victim pointed a gun at Haegan, and Haegan and the alleged victim wrestled over that gun, and then the victim was shot," Easton said.
But prosecutor Michael Goodrich contested that story. He said Sagers told investigators that Porter went to get the gun and that he took the gun from Porter and pointed it at him, not that they wrestled over it. He said Sagers reported he was angry at his stepbrother and wanted to hurt him, but not kill him.
Sagers is scheduled to be sentenced on July 15. Attorneys will recommend his sentence be a term of two and 15 years in prison, citing a statute that increases the statutory minimum sentence by one year if a dangerous weapon is used.
