A Herriman man has admitted to shooting and killing another person as part of a plea deal, taking into account that he thought he was justified when he was not, reducing a murder charge to manslaughter.
Andrew Whatcott, 22, pleaded guilty on May 14 to manslaughter, two counts of felony discharge of a firearm, and obstructing justice, all second-degree felonies.
His guilty plea resulted in the cancellation of a three-day jury trial scheduled later in May.
Whatcott said in his plea that he was robbed by three people on Oct. 18, 2020, and shot and killed 25-year-old Domnyk Marez “under the belief that I was defending myself from being robbed.” He said he also caused serious injuries to another man and a woman before fleeing the scene and disposing of the gun he used.
At the time, he was 17 years old and had previous convictions in juvenile court for aggravated assault and forcible sexual abuse.
Charging documents said he shot into a car with the three people inside near Tanner Park, 2695 E. Heritage Way.
They said the woman arranged to buy marijuana from Whatcott, but they disagreed over the price. She told Whatcott to get out of the car, and he refused, so Marez pushed him out. After that, charges say Whatcott began shooting at the car.
In addition to Whatcott’s murder charge being reduced to manslaughter as part of the plea deal, the two felony discharge of a firearm charges he pleaded guilty to were reduced to second-degree felonies. Three additional counts of felony discharge of a firearm and one count of possession of a dangerous weapon as a restricted person were also dismissed.
He is scheduled to be sentenced on July 23. Three of the charges he pleaded guilty to had weapon enhancements, meaning the statutory prison sentence for each of them is between two and 20 years in prison. The obstruction of justice charge has a statutory sentence of between one and 15 years in prison.
Whatcott’s plea statement said he agrees prison sentences are appropriate and that they should be served consecutively — meaning he could be sentenced to at least seven years and up to 75 years in prison.