Chris Carter was not a model citizen. He had a hot temper, associated with friends with questionable standards and, as a high school dropout, had a difficult time holding down jobs.

But despite his problems, his mother said, he didn't deserve to die the way he did at the age of 26."Regardless of what Chris said or did in the past, it gave nobody the right to kill him," said Mildred Carter from her home in Lufkin, Texas.

Late on a rainy night in October 1993, Carter was riding his motorcycle on U.S. 6 in south Spanish Fork when a speeding car rammed him from behind - impaling the cycle on the front grill. He bounced off the windshield and landed beside the road. A Salem couple returning from a late-night movie found his bleeding body on the wet pavement. He died about five hours later at a Payson hospital.

Mildred Carter has been waiting more than three years for the two young men who she believes killed her only child to go before a jury. She might be waiting a couple more years.

"I know there's going to be a lot of ugliness come out in the trial, but I'm prepared for it. Some of the things Chris did are irrelevant," she said.

Utah County prosecutors allege that Spanish Fork residents Adam Johnston and Brad Koyle were driving the car that hit Carter. They also say the collision was intentional. However, Johnston and Koyle were both 17 at the time the incident occurred, and prosecutors have spent the past three years trying to get the two to face a charge of murder, a first-degree felony, in adult court.

In January 1994, the two were charged as adults in 4th Circuit Court. But the case was put on hold for more than 18 months when Salt Lake attorney Ron Yengich challenged the state law that allowed the direct filing of adult charges against juveniles. The Utah Supreme Court found the law unconstitutional late last summer.

Prosecutors then refiled charges against Johnston and Koyle in Provo's Juvenile Court and petitioned to have the two certified as adults. A two-day hearing was held in January, and Judge Jeril Wilson ruled last week to certify Johnston and Koyle as adults.

But defense attorneys have 30 days to appeal Wilson's ruling to the Utah Court of Appeals. Mike Petro, one of Johnston's attorneys, said Monday that an appeal is likely - which means the case could again be on hold for possibly another year while awaiting a ruling.

If the ruling is appealed, prosecutors won't refile adult charges against Johnston and Koyle unless and until the decision is upheld. If Wilson's ruling is not appealed, prosecutors plan to refile charges in 4th Circuit Court next month.

Johnston and Koyle are both now 20. If the ruling is appealed, they could be 21 by the time a final decision is rendered. The juvenile court loses jurisdiction over defendants once they turn 21.

According to court testimony, Johnston and Koyle were parked at a Spanish Fork gas station shortly after midnight on Oct. 17, 1993, when Carter rode by on his motorcycle. Upset that Carter was harassing his girlfriend, Johnston allegedly yelled to Koyle "let's kill" him when he saw Carter drive by.

The two chased Carter in Johnston's vehicle south through town toward Salem. Koyle allegedly told friends and police that when the two drove up behind Carter near the intersection of U.S. 6 and Arrowhead Trail, he reached his foot over from the passenger side and pushed on Johnston's foot on the gas pedal.

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The two teens originally told police that Carter turned in front of them. An accident specialist testified that the car traveled 547 feet before it stopped and "only then because it was disabled by having the motorcycle pinned under the front end." Also, there were no skid marks or other evidence of braking. Johnston's blood-alcohol level was above the legal limit.

The day after her son's death, Mildred Carter traveled to Utah to clean out his apartment. Before returning to Texas with his body, however, she visited the collision scene. She also examined the damaged car and motorcycle.

"After seeing his motorcycle and the tire marks at the scene, there was no doubt in my mind that they did it on purpose," she said.

Last summer, Mildred Carter filed a wrongful death lawsuit in 4th District Court against Johnston, Koyle and Johnston's mother.

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