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SALT LAKE CITY — A now-17-year-old boy pleaded guilty to manslaughter Friday in the killing of his classmate over an iPod and was ordered into secure care.
Jonatan Bustos pleaded guilty to a second-degree felony charge of manslaughter and was ordered into secure care by Juvenile Court Judge Frederic Oddone, according to court officials.
The Youth Parole Authority will determine how long Bustos is in custody. The maximum time a juvenile can be held is until the age of 21.
Court officials said Bustos had served 15 months in jail at the time of his sentencing.
Bustos was originally charged in 3rd District Court with murder, a first-degree felony, after he stabbed and killed fellow Hunter High student Taylor Pankow. His case was later transferred back to the juvenile courts because prosecutors did not feel the evidence supported a murder charge in adult court.
According to court charges, Bustos was arguing with Taylor about a stolen iPod outside the Family Dollar Store, 4715 S. 1460 West, on Aug. 30, 2010, when Bustos pulled out a knife and stabbed the 15-year-old once in the abdomen and once in the heart.
Bustos told police that he started carrying a knife ever since he and the victim started arguing over the iPod the previous Friday. Police said the two boys had a recent ongoing disagreement over possession of an iPod and the two reportedly agreed to meet in the Dollar Store parking lot to settle their differences.
Bustos admitted to stabbing Taylor outside the West Valley store and stabbing him twice in the abdomen and then running away, the charges state.
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