16-year-old charged as adult, facing murder charge after ‘family fight’

DUCHESNE COUNTY, Utah (ABC4) — A 16-year-old is being formally charged as an adult in Eighth District Court after he was accused of murdering another teenager over the weekend.

Haegen Ray Sagers was indicted in Eighth District Court on Monday, Sept. 23, on one count of murder and one count of felony discharge of a firearm with serious bodily injury, according to documents.

Officials said deputies were dispatched to “a report of a family fight” on Sept. 22 that involved a firearm being used. When they arrived at the scene, officials found one juvenile dead inside the home with a gunshot wound in his upper body.

Sagers was arrested and questioned at the Duchesne County Sheriff’s Office before being taken to Split Mountain Youth Detention Center in Vernal, according to officials.

The sheriff’s office said no other family members were home when the incident occurred. Officials did not disclose the nature of the relationship between Sagers and the deceased.

According to Utah Code Section 80-6-502 , if someone is 16 or 17 years old and gets charged with murder or aggravated murder, they must be charged as an adult.

However, the law does not allow minors charged as adults to face a death sentence or life without the possibility of parole. The maximum sentence for minors charged as adults is a prison term of 25 years to life in prison, according to the Washington County Attorney’s Office.

There is no further information available at this time.

Charges are allegations only. All arrested persons are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

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