Woman gets prison for her role in West Valley golf course killing

SALT LAKE CITY — Elka Fernandez said she has cried every day since she learned her son was marched at gunpoint onto a West Valley golf course and shot to death execution style.

JoJo Brandstatt, 18, was shot three times and left for dead Feb. 5, 2009, in a case involving four people who prosecutors say were deep into the gang lifestyle. Prosecutors suspect the motive for gunning down Brandstatt was that one young man was enraged to see Brandstatt join the others wearing a red T-shirt — the color favored by a rival gang.

Shardise Malaga, 20, one of the four, was sentenced Monday for five different felonies including manslaughter, two counts of kidnapping, and unrelated charges of burglary and theft.

Third District Judge William Barrett ordered all the sentences to run concurrently, meaning Malaga will serve a minimum of 15 years to life. How much more time she could spend behind bars will depend on the Board of Pardons and Parole.

"It's so tragic that a young man loses his life and Miss Malaga will lose part of her life," Barrett said. "I reflect on it, and I don't get it. I don't understand why people conduct themselves this way."

"JoJo was a kid who liked everybody," a sobbing Fernandez told the judge. "That night, even with those people being so mean to him, he never raised his voice to them. He just asked if he could call his mom."

"How can anybody do that to another human being?" Fernandez asked. "The pain it has caused will never go away."

The judge asked if the Brandstatt family wanted to hear from Malaga and then permitted her to turn from a courtroom lectern to address the family.

A visibly emotional Malaga looked down frequently and then at the family. With tears on her face, she said she was sorry for what happened to Brandstatt. "If I had known what was going to happen, I would have done something different," she said. "I promise I'm not going to let your son's death (be) in vain."

Toni Sanchez, Brandstatt's aunt, questioned Malaga's claims of remorse and her lack of any meaningful action to stop the crime on the day Brandstatt was killed.

Court testimony indicates Malaga spoke to Antonie Hunter Farani — who was then 14 and who prosecutors believe is the actual shooter — and repeatedly tried to persuade Farani not to kill Brandstatt.

But Sanchez said Malaga did not do anything beyond that.