SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — A man on a cross-country crime spree pleaded guilty to four felonies connected to an aggravated robbery where he pointed a gun at the head of a 13-year-old girl and demanded money in a West Valley City salon in 2021.
Derrick Lamone Scott, 29, accepted a plea deal and pleaded guilty to one count of first-degree felony discharge of a firearm causing serious bodily injury, two counts of first-degree felony aggravated robbery, and one count of third-degree felony child abuse.
Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill said Scott went into a West Valley City salon in November 2021 and immediately held the 13-year-old girl hostage. He demanded the girl’s mother, who owned the salon, give him money or else he would shoot and kill the teen girl.
Two defendants who were with Scott reportedly attempted to zip-tie the teen, but she refused and tried to take the gun from Scott.
“Mr. Scott then grabbed the girl and began hitting her in the head with his gun,” the Salt Lake County District Attorney’s Office said. “The teen then ran to her mother in the back of the shop. At that point, [Scott] pointed his gun at [her mother] and tried to shoot her.”
The gun did not initially fire, however, Scott attempted to shoot the girl’s mother again. The DA’s office said the gun eventually fired, striking the mother on the chin. Scott and his co-defendants then took money from the salon along with several products and fled.
The mother survived the shot, however doctors were not able to remove the bullet that lodged into her throat, damaging her voice box.
“The defendant’s brutal treatment of both [the mother] and her child is unconscionable,” said Gill. “While on a cross-country crime spree, the defendant committed crimes in our state and has now been convicted and sentenced for them. We hope that this guilty plea will help the survivors start to feel they have achieved some measure of justice for the callous attack on them and their livelihood.”
The sentences from the discharge of a firearm, the child abuse, and one count of felony aggravated robbery will run consecutively to one another.
Having been sentenced for his crimes in Utah, Scott will be taken to Texas where he will face a homicide charge. If convicted in Texas, Gill said he would serve his sentence there and then start his Utah sentence.
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