Utahn who posted live videos of mother after shooting gets up to 15 years in prison

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FARMINGTON — A North Salt Lake man who admitted to posting live video of his wounded mother before fatally shooting her to assist in her suicide has been ordered to at least one year and up to 15 years in the Utah State Prison.

Just before 2nd District Judge David Connors read the sentence for Jeffrey Antonio Langford, family members and Langford’s attorney cast him as a good son to Graciela Laura Holker even as alcohol and drug addictions consumed her. Prosecutors countered that Langford failed to take responsibility and continued to blame his mother for her death.

Langford pleaded guilty in May to a reduced charge of manslaughter, a second-degree felony.

He originally faced charges of murder, a first-degree felony; and obstructing justice, a second-degree felony. As part of a plea bargain with prosecutors, the obstruction charge was dismissed.

Police said Langford posted several videos on Oct. 26, 2019, showing his mother with a bullet wound to her head and saying she shot herself but “he was going to have to finish it” while she could still be heard breathing.

No definitive conclusion was reached about who fired the initial gunshot, but two other wounds were not consistent with self-inflicted injuries, court documents say.

Laura Torres, Langford’s grandmother and Holker’s mother, fought tears as she recalled how Langford’s father had taken his own life when Langford was just 11 years old.

Over more than a decade that followed, “there wasn’t anything he wouldn’t do” for Holker, Torres said.

Langford’s attorney, C. Markley Arrington, said Holker had supplied her son with alcohol and drugs. He said the evidence suggested Holker shot herself before Langford “shot her, I believe, in a motivation to end her misery.”

Arrington argued for more jail time for his client instead of prison, followed by a stint in a residential treatment center that could teach him job skills.

Prosecutor Nathan Lyon said although Langford was intoxicated at the time, he could have called 911 instead of taking a Facebook Live video, shooting his mother two more times in the head and slitting her throat.

Lyon argued for prison for Langford, calling his behavior “horrific.”

“He needs to own his own conduct and his own actions, and I’m frankly appalled how we’ve been hearing that it’s his mother’s fault that he killed her,” Lyon said. “Nothing could be further from the truth.”

Langford, wearing a blue-striped jail uniform and a face mask for the hearing held over video, could be seen dabbing his eyes with a tissue.

“I do take account for what I’ve done,” he said. “But I will not admit to killing anyone. I did not kill her and she shot herself in the head.”

Langford said he is not dangerous and just wants to live a normal life. He emphasized that he has been sober for more than 9 months.

“I now have two parents dead, both from suicide,” he said. “I’m the last of my line.”

The judge said it’s unknown whether Holker could have recovered after the first gunshot and agreed with prosecutors that Langford’s conduct was “egregious.”

Connors said state law gave two sentencing options. The first was a term that could amount to the whole 15 years in prison but was expected to be about nine years, based on sentencing guidelines. The other was a year in jail followed by probation.

“Neither of those appears to me to be an appropriate option,” Connors said, noting judges in other states have discretion to order three- to five-year terms.

Connors decided on prison, saying it was important to trust the Utah Board of Pardons and Parole in determining the appropriate time length.

Help is available from the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255). and for Utah residents, from the SafeUT app.