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PROVO — An Orem man has admitted to causing the death of his girlfriend's 27-year-old son by hitting him with a metal pipe. The attack resulted in a seizure and the son died a couple of months after the assault.
Preston Smith Marsh, 41, pleaded guilty to aggravated assault, a second-degree felony, and pleaded no contest to criminal homicide by assault, a third-degree felony. He was previously scheduled for a two-week trial beginning Monday.
He was initially charged with murder, a first-degree felony, but the charges were reduced as part of a plea deal.
Jensen Harvey, 27, was found unconscious in Marsh's driveway on Aug. 22, 2021. Marsh reported at that time he had hit Harvey in self-defense after Harvey had come to the house to get his dog and threatened to kill Marsh, according to charging documents. Police said Marsh was "intoxicated and belligerent" when they responded.
Doctors determined Harvey had a "minor brain bleed" and then he suffered a seizure a few days later and his health continued to decline after the assault with multiple seizures, charging documents state. On Nov. 1, 2021, Harvey was found unconscious and he was pronounced dead. An autopsy concluded the cause of Harvey's death was a post-traumatic seizure from blunt force injuries to the head.
The fight began in a shed when Harvey threatened Marsh and hit him with his hand, then Marsh grabbed a pipe and hit Harvey on the arm before Harvey walked back to his car and the confrontation continued, the charges say. Harvey's mom attempted to stop the fight, but as Harvey was speaking to her and backing away from Marsh, Marsh is accused of walking over to him and hitting him twice with the steel pipe.
In a justification hearing on Sept. 1, 2022, 4th District Judge Robert Lund ruled that Marsh had not acted in self-defense.
He is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 6.
The plea agreement says prosecutors agreed to suggest the judge suspend Marsh's prison sentences and place him on probation for four years, and have him serve 90 additional days in jail. Marsh has remained in the Utah County Jail since the charges were filed in this case.
