2 won't fight return to Utah

CEDAR CITY — Two 17-year-old boys arrested in Las Vegas just hours after they allegedly killed a Cedar City youth counselor will return to Utah to face murder charges.

Sean Graham and Jesse Simmons are accused of striking Anson Arnett, 31, in the head with a baseball bat as he came up a set of stairs in the group home around 10 p.m. on Monday.

Arnett, a counselor for Maximum Life Skills Academy, died Tuesday evening at a Salt Lake hospital after being flown there with critical head injuries.

Both teens waived their right to an extradition hearing during an appearance before a Las Vegas judge on Friday, said Iron County Attorney Scott Garrett.

"We're coordinating their transfer to Cedar City, but I think it will probably be Monday before we'll be able to go down and get them," Garrett said Friday afternoon, adding he is still weighing a decision on whether he will seek the death penalty against the teens.

Graham and Simmons were charged Wednesday with aggravated murder, a capital offense, and aggravated kidnapping, a first-degree felony. They also face charges of second-degree felony theft for allegedly stealing a company van and driving it to Las Vegas where it was recovered.

The teenagers were enrolled in Maximum Life Skills Academy, a residential youth treatment center for boys ages 12 to 17. A Web site for the company states tuition is about $4,500 per month for the program, which is licensed in Utah to enroll up to 11 boys at one time.

Graham and Simmons had been residents of the treatment center for between six and nine months, according to facility owner Adam Ah Quin.

The two were scheduled to go home later this month, he said, but those plans were changed when counselors caught the pair cheating in school.

"They had gotten into trouble, which showed they weren't ready to go home," Ah Quin said. "I think they planned to bust out, to escape."

Arnett, who had only worked at the youth home for around six months, had just completed a room check and was going upstairs in the split-level home when he was struck from behind, Ah Quin said.

The teens then stuffed the severely injured and bleeding counselor into a closet upside down and locked the door, according to a probable cause statement filed in 5th District Court.

Police were called to the scene around 11:34 p.m. after several boys from the group home ran to a counselor's home to report what had happened.

Arnett is described in an obituary as a gifted artist whose patience and respect for others, particularly those who were troubled, was courageous. A celebration of Arnett's life is scheduled this afternoon in Cedar City.

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E-mail: nperkins@infowest.com