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SALT LAKE CITY — An Ogden man who took the helm of a boat after a friend ran over a swimmer in Pineview Reservoir, leaving her to bleed out in the water, will continue his jail sentence, the Utah State Court of Appeals ruled Thursday.
Skyler Shepherd, 25, is currently serving a 2 -year sentence at the Weber County Jail after a jury found him guilty in December 2012 of reckless endangerment and obstruction of justice, both misdemeanors, and failure to render aid, a class B misdemeanor.
Shepherd and two friends were out on the reservoir Aug. 21, 2011, when the boat ran over University of Utah scientist Esther Fujimoto, 49, gravely injuring her.
Though Shepherd later told police that he had stopped to check on Fujimoto and she told him she was OK and seemed angry, a medical examiner found the men had left the woman bleeding heavily from the "chopping injuries" she suffered when she was hit by the boat's propeller.
Fujimoto was a cancer survivor and part of a U. team that identified a breast cancer gene. At the time of her death, she was seeking a cure for cerebral palsy.
After the accident, Shepherd steered the boat away and left the area, then failed to report what happened to officers questioning boaters leaving the marina, Judge Gregory Orme noted in the decision handed down Thursday.
Orme emphasized that, contrary to Shepherd's account, a man on the shore heard Fujimoto scream and watched as the three men in the boat asked, "Hey, lady, are you OK?" before speeding off. The witness then rowed a small boat out to find the woman, holding her hand as she died in the water minutes later.
(Shepherd) could have given the victim a chance to survive simply by calling 911 or providing even the most rudimentary first aid — like getting the victim out of the water and into a horizontal position.
–Judge Gregory Orme
The jury that convicted Shepherd had ample evidence to do so, Orme wrote, determining that all of Shepherd's claims made in the appeal were without merit.
"(Shepherd) could have given the victim a chance to survive simply by calling 911 or providing even the most rudimentary first aid — like getting the victim out of the water and into a horizontal position," Orme wrote. "And while his decision not to render aid did not guarantee her death, the jury could have easily found on the evidence before it that this decision posed a substantial risk that the victim would die, much less that she would sustain serious bodily injury."
In February 2013, Shepherd's friends — Colton Raines, 25, and Robert Boyer, 33 — were also found guilty in Fujimoto's death.
Raines, who was driving the boat when it hit Fujimoto, was convicted on charges identical to Shepherd's of reckless endangerment and obstruction of justice, both class A misdemeanors, and failure to render aid, a class B misdemeanor. He was later ordered to spend 2 years behind bars, a sentence he is currently serving in the Weber County Jail.
Boyer was convicted of a single count of obstruction of justice, a class A misdemeanor, and sentenced to 365 days in jail.
Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes issued a statement saying he was pleased with the court's ruling. "We seek justice for victims throughout the state of Utah and in today's unanimous court decision, justice was served," he said.
