Older brother of West Haven boy who died after years of abuse sentenced to prison

OGDEN — The older brother of the West Haven boy who died in 2024 — after years of abuse and malnutrition — will serve a prison sentence in connection with his brother's death.

Second District Judge Camille Neider contrasted Tyler Shane Peterson's "submissive" role in the death of his brother, Gavin Peterson, with that of his father and stepmother, Shane Peterson and Nichole Scott. Tyler Peterson, she said, participated in the abuse that led to Gavin's death in part out of fear of repercussions from his father and Scott.

"You were scared ... and your world was so small you didn't know where to go," Neider said.

Nevertheless, he was an "active" participant in the abuse 12-year-old Gavin faced, she said, and she sentenced him to five years to life in prison for child abuse homicide, a first-degree felony. She also sentenced him to a term of one to 15 years imprisonment on each of two charges of aggravated child abuse and a count of obstruction of justice, second-degree felonies. The sentences were ordered to be served concurrently.

While Neider offered harsh words in sentencing Shane Peterson and Scott last year, she was more sympathetic to Tyler Peterson, 23. Wearing a collared shirt and tie and much heavier than in early court appearances, he was handcuffed and removed from the courtroom by Weber County sheriff's officials at the end of Tuesday's hearing.

"I hope you see a ray of light at the end of the tunnel," Neider said. At some point, he'll leave prison, she said, "and I want you to come out a better person."

Gavin died of sepsis on July 9, 2024. Responding officers found he had been locked in a room with no bed or carpet, and an investigation showed food and water were withheld from him. Neider called Scott the "architect of Gavin's destruction" during the woman's sentencing last year.

At Tuesday's hearing, defense attorney Ryan Bushell argued his client should get probation, noting the anxiety and depression he suffers and possible autism. Given his mental health issues, he went along with abuse meted out against Gavin "so he wouldn't be the next one abused," Bushell said. His father and stepmother "groomed" him to take part in the abuse and the West Haven household was a "chaotic nightmare house."

"The guilt and the shame he has to live with on top the other difficulties he faces in life is a life sentence," Bushell said. He worries his client's mental health "will crumble" in prison.

Tyler Peterson has been living with his mother, Melanie Peterson. In a letter read to the court Monday by her lawyer, Aubrey Davis, Melanie Peterson dates the problems her son faced to late 2012, when he moved in with his dad and Scott.

"I know Tyler is not evil. I would not be supporting him if I thought that. He is nothing like Shane and Nichole, I know he was abused, as all my children were, mentally, verbally and physically," Melanie Peterson said in the letter. "They were repeatedly told over and over until they began to believe what was being said, whatever it was they wanted them to say at that time. I know Tyler would never do this on his own. He was brainwashed since he was young that this is what he had to do to survive."

Deputy Weber County attorney Kevin McGaha pressed for prison time, noting the years of "torture, agony and torment" that Gavin faced and Tyler Peterson's role in the treatment. Tyler Peterson, McGaha said, experienced "pride and satisfaction" in some of his actions. Likewise, Neider noted Tyler Peterson's comments about making Gavin do jumping jacks as punishment, putting soap in his mouth and giving him a bloody nose in text messages to his father and stepmother.

The judge said Tyler Peterson had taken part in the harsh treatment his younger brother faced since 2020.

"Your own harsh words have me real concern," Neider said, which made her turn her focus to Gavin and what he suffered. "The truth of the matter is, I have to go back to Gavin."

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