CEDAR CITY — Two teenagers charged with aggravated murder in the beating death of a youth counselor will be tried on two lesser criminal counts following a preliminary hearing held Monday in 5th District Court in Cedar City.
Judge G. Michael Westfall ordered Sean Graham and Jesse Simmons, both 17, to face trial on a second-degree felony count of theft and a class A misdemeanor theft charge.
Westfall took under advisement the most serious charges filed against the teens: aggravated murder, a capital offense, and kidnapping, a second-degree felony. The judge asked attorneys to file legal briefs on the two counts by June 4, and scheduled another hearing at 3 p.m. on June 9.
Graham and Simmons, who are being tried as adults, are accused of killing Anson Arnett, a counselor at Maximum Life Skills Academy, a state-licensed home for troubled youth. Both teens had been residents of the facility for less than a year when the incident occurred. Arnett had been a counselor for less than six months and was working alone when he was attacked.
Graham and Simmons were arrested in Las Vegas a day after Arnett was found stuffed upside down, unconscious and bleeding, inside a closet at the facility.
Arnett died at a Salt Lake hospital the same evening the two suspects were arrested by Las Vegas Metro Police. A company van and other items reported missing from the home were also recovered. The pair later waived extradition and were booked into the Iron County jail with no bail.
Several witnesses called to the stand by the prosecution on Monday recounted the evening that Arnett was attacked. State medical examiner Maureen Frikke testified Arnett died from injuries he received from a blow to the back of his head. The injuries were consistent with those that could be inflicted by the alleged murder weapon, an aluminum baseball bat, she said.
E-mail: nperkins@infowest.com