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LOGAN, Utah (AP) — The Latest on a Utah teenager shot in the head (all times local):
1:57 p.m.
The family of a northern Utah teenage girl who was shot twice in the head says she's making progress as she continues to battle for her life.
The family of Deserae Turner said Tuesday in a statement that the 14-year-old has been moved to a neuro trauma unit and is set for surgery and extensive rehabilitation.
"Our sweet girl has been through so much as she battled for her life and this will be a battle she fights for a long time, if not for the rest of her life," the family said.
Authorities say she was found in the early morning of Feb. 17 in a dry canal in in the small town of Smithfield, Utah. Police accuse two 16-year-old boys of luring Deserae to the ditch last week by promising to sell her a knife. Instead, they shot her and then took her cellphone, iPod and $55.
The Associated Press is not naming the boys because they are juveniles.
A judge ruled Tuesday that the hearings for the two teenagers would remain open to the public and media despite a request from their attorneys to make them private.
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1:30 p.m.
A judge has ruled that hearings for two teenagers accused of shooting a 14-year-old girl in the head and leaving her critically wounded in a ditch will remain open to the public and media.
The Deseret News reports (http://bit.ly/2nbfTn8) that Judge Angela Fonnesbeck on Tuesday in Logan denied a request from defense attorneys to make the case private. The attorneys argued that open hearings would lead to "gossiping" and taint a jury pool.
Lawyer Michael O'Brien countered that state law stipulates that court cases for suspects 14 and older be kept open. He represented a Salt Lake City media coalition opposing the request that includes The Associated Press.
The two 16-year-old boys have been charged with aggravated murder, robbery and other counts.
The Associated Press is not naming the boys because they are juveniles.
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