Demajhio Smith's family stood inside the Third District Courthouse in West Jordan and came face to face, for the first time, with the two teenagers accused of killing him. The 26-year-old was shot and killed in Holladay, and his relatives walked out of that hearing wanting one thing: harsher charges than the first-degree murder counts currently on the table.
According to FOX 13 News Utah, law enforcement charged 17-year-old Drake Hernandez and 16-year-old Umda Dike with first-degree murder, and both are set to be tried as adults. Smith's family and friends disagree with the charges as filed and are pushing for prosecutors to pursue aggravated murder instead. Lawrence Smith said he saw the two young men sitting in the courtroom, while Roxanne Clark described the moment the family left and offered an apology as heartbreaking.
What Charging Documents Allege Happened
A separate account from the station lays out what investigators say led to Smith's death. Per the outlet's reporting, Dike allegedly pulled out a gun and pointed it toward Smith, and Hernandez allegedly struck Smith in the face with his own gun before Dike's weapon discharged. Police discovered Smith's body in a parking stall at the Chateau Foret complex in Holladay on October 15, and both teens were charged with first-degree murder, obstruction of justice and prohibited dangerous weapon conduct following the shooting, the station's report states.
Ronald Smith told the station he wants the teenagers to lose the chance to ever have families and children of their own, and he said an aggravated murder conviction could tack on thirty or forty more years behind bars. He said the community has rallied behind the family's push, and Lilian Sannoh said she wants to see stronger charges filed to help prevent similar tragedies.
Why Prosecutors Say the Charges Stand as Filed
Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill said senior and homicide attorneys review every homicide case to determine what the evidence actually supports, and per the same account, his office filed the charges it considered appropriate based on the evidence available at the time. Gill explained that a standard murder conviction carries 15 years to life, while aggravated murder carries a far steeper range of 25 years to life without parole, or the death penalty.
Gill said aggravated murder requires prosecutors to show the defendant specifically intended to cause death and committed one of the aggravating circumstances enumerated under Utah Code 76-5-202. That added burden of proof is central to why his office weighs each homicide case individually before deciding which charge to file.
A Broader Pattern in Utah Youth Gun Cases
The Holladay case lands amid a documented rise in youth firearm offenses statewide. Utah juvenile detention bookings for firearm offenses climbed from 43 in 2015 to 107 in 2023, more than doubling over that stretch, according to KSL.com. The outlet also reported that more than a quarter of Utah students in grades 6 through 12 surveyed in 2023 said they had easy access to handguns, and more than 20% of respondents said guns and ammunition in their homes were stored unlocked or in plain sight.
KSL.com further reported that Utah has no mandate requiring authorities to track where guns used in juvenile crimes actually come from, and a state Department of Public Safety lieutenant told the outlet that tracing firearm sources is often not a priority once a case is underway. For Smith's family, the frustration goes beyond this one case. Smith's relatives say they also want stricter penalties for minors caught carrying guns, hoping tougher consequences might keep another family from standing in that same courtroom.
