Witness describes events before slaying

Shardise Malaga said she tried repeatedly to talk a 14-year-old boy out of shooting JoJo Brandstatt, but the teen insisted that Brandstatt "knew too much" about other crimes.

Brandstatt ended up dead in the snow.

Malaga was a key witness Friday at the first of several hearings before 3rd District Juvenile Judge Andrew Valdez, who must decide whether the teen will be tried in juvenile or adult court.

Malaga, 19, the now-15-year-old boy and two other adults are charged in connection with the slaying of Brandstatt, 18, who prosecutors believe was marched up a hill at a West Valley City golf course and shot dead almost assassination-style.

Prosecutors say Brandstatt was killed because he was wearing a red shirt, the color favored by a rival gang, which enraged the younger teen.

Malaga's testimony lasted most of the day and depicted a drug-soaked world of aimless juveniles and young adults with little education and no jobs, cruising around looking for places to rob and erupting into violence at the slightest perception they were being "disrespected."

She matter-of-factly described one situation in which an accidentally thrown candy bar hit a car. A group of young Hispanics poured out and rushed toward young Polynesians in another car, she said. A screwdriver and a box cutter came into play, followed by wild car chases, police sirens and, ultimately, juvenile court.

Malaga, who has been offered a plea bargain in which a murder charge against her will be reduced to manslaughter, said she spoke in Samoan and English to the teen, asking him what was going to happen to Brandstatt, whom she called "the kid."

She said the 14-year-old was furious but also wept at times during the episode. "He said, 'It wasn't supposed to go down like this,' " she testified.

Malaga also said that an adult defendant, Spencer Isaiah Cater, 19, was pressuring the teen to kill Brandstatt.

"I said, 'You gonna shoot the kid?' and (the teen) was like, 'Just get out of it,' and I said, 'You don't have to do this,' " Malaga said. "Spencer was like, 'Just shoot him already.' "

According to her testimony, the episode began about noon when the 14-year-old, Malaga, Cater and Jeremiah H. Williamson, 27, tricked drug dealer Greg Brown into getting into their car with a bogus drugs-for-gun exchange. Brown was told he had to come up with $2,000 or he would be killed, so he began calling around, trying to raise the money, and attracted Brandstatt to the car.

Malaga said she originally thought Brandstatt might get beaten up but not shot. However, when they got to the golf course, she saw the 14-year-old checking the ammunition clip in a gun.

"JoJo was just standing there with his hands folded, like he was ready for it," Malaga testified.

At this point, Brandstatt's mother, who was seated in the front row and already crying quietly, covered her face and sobbed out loud.

The adult defendants are charged with murder, two counts of aggravated kidnapping and five counts of aggravated robbery, all first-degree felonies. The teen is charged with aggravated murder, a first-degree felony, as well as identical kidnapping and robbery charges.

e-mail: lindat@desnews.com