Man to stand trial in death of girl and fire that killed her

FARMINGTON — A judge has ruled that Mark Anthony Ott should go to trial on capital murder charges for allegedly setting a deadly house fire that killed a 6-year-old girl asleep inside.

Second District Judge Rodney Page ordered Ott to be arraigned on charges of capital murder in the death of Lacey Lawrence, who was sleeping in the bedroom of a home on Sept. 1, 2002.

On that night, Ott allegedly broke into the house and repeatedly stabbed his estranged wife's boyfriend with a chef's knife. He also knifed one of his own stepdaughters, then doused furniture with gas and set the place on fire, according to testimony at a two-day preliminary hearing.

Through the emotionally charged hearing, Ott sat impassively in a red jail jumpsuit, both hands shackled at the judge's insistence.

Ott is charged with capital murder along with aggravated arson, aggravated burglary, three counts of aggravated assault and theft.

He also faces other charges including a third-degree felony charge of damaging a jail, a class B misdemeanor count of criminal mischief, and two third-degree felony charges of assault by a prisoner on two Davis County Jail employees.

Prosecutors advanced two theories — one of "transferred intent" and another of creating a "kill zone" — that they said come into play in this case.

Although this is not a classic transferred intent situation, when someone tries to murder a second person and ends up killing a third, the homicide is the same as if the intended victim had died, argued prosecutor Carvel Harward.

Harward also said this case showed Ott created a kill zone by setting fire to a house that he knew was occupied by several other people, including family members and guests, and that fire resulted in Lacey Lawrence's death.

Harward argued that Ott "willingly and knowingly" intended to commit these crimes. "He went there to kill and he caused a death."

The turbulence of Ott's marriage to his now ex-wife Donna was evident when she testified on Thursday. At times, she looked and sounded visibly angry on the stand and at one point was told by the judge to calm down.

Donna Ott, who said her ex-husband beat her and was always breaking things in a fury, obtained two protective orders to keep Mark Ott away about the same time she filed for divorce on June 12, 2002. A month later she met Allen Lawrence.