Plea deal resolves horse shooting case

DUCHESNE — The case against a man accused of shooting his neighbor's horse with a .22-caliber rifle, causing fatal injuries, has been resolved through a plea bargain.

Cody L. Fors, 19, was initially charged in 8th District Court with wanton destruction of livestock, a second-degree felony. He faced up to 15 years in prison.

Court records show Fors, who now lives in Kanab, entered a no-contest plea earlier this month to one count of wanton destruction of livestock, reduced to a class A misdemeanor.

The plea will be held in abeyance for three years. If Fors has no new violations of the law and pays $5,800 in restitution to the horse's owner, the case will be dismissed.

Judge George Harmond also agreed to dismiss an unrelated weapons charge as a condition of the plea agreement between Fors and Duchesne County prosecutors.

Fors was living in the Duchesne County community of Hanna in February when he intentionally shot a 5-year-old mare named Honey, according to court records. No reason for the shooting was ever given.

Honey's owner, champion horse trainer Lee Giles, estimated that he'd invested $15,000 in the animal at the time of the shooting. The horse had to be destroyed because of the internal damage caused by the gunshot, Giles said.

— Geoff Liesik Twitter: GeoffLiesik