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GUNNISON — A Layton man already serving a sentence of up to life in prison for causing the horrific death of a 6-year-old girl in 2002 and injuring two others is facing new charges — again.
Mark Anthony Ott, 59, was charged Tuesday in 6th District Court with aggravated assault by a prisoner. Because of his history of attacking other inmates, prosecutors are seeking to have Ott classified as a habitual violent offender, which enhances his charge to a first-degree felony.
On Sept. 1, 2002, Ott went to his estranged wife's home, stabbed her boyfriend multiple times and his own step-daughter. The stabbing victims fled the home and hid and managed to survive. But Ott then used gasoline to set the house on fire. Lacey Lawrence, 6, who was sleeping at the house that night, was killed.
In 2004, Ott — who was facing the possibility of receiving the death penalty — was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole in exchange for pleading guilty to aggravated murder.
He appealed his sentence to the Utah Supreme Court, which determined that Ott had ineffective assistance of counsel and ordered a new sentence. In 2012, he was re-sentenced to what amounts to 25 years to life in prison with the possibility of parole.
But according to Sanpete County Attorney Kevin Daniels, Ott knows he's never getting out of prison and "quite frankly, he doesn't care" about his behavior while incarcerated.
"The guy is a problem," he told KSL.com. "It's only a matter of time before he kills somebody."
According to court records:
- Ott pleaded no contest to an amended charge of attempted assault by a prisoner in 2007 for an incident at the Utah State Prison in Draper.
- In 2019, he attacked a doctor at the prison and pleaded guilty to assault by a prisoner and was sentenced to another term of one to 5 years in prison.
- In May 2022, Ott "smashed" another inmate's head into a cell door at the Central Utah Correctional Facility in an "unprovoked" attack, and "then grabbed the victim's throat with both hands and choked the victim, who later reported that he thought he was going to die," according to charging documents. He is charged in that case with aggravated assault by a prisoner, a first-degree felony.
- In September, Ott again attacked another inmate at the Gunnison facility, knocking him to the ground and "knocking the victim unconscious. The defendant then choked, punched, kicked and stomped the victim while the victim was unconscious," charging documents state. He faces another charge of aggravated assault by a prisoner in this case.
In his latest charge filed Tuesday, Ott is accused yet again of assaulting another inmate.
Daniels says it's frustrating that more can't be done with a person like Ott and he would like to see state lawmakers give law enforcement and prosecutors more tools to deal with a person who is already serving a life sentence but continues to commit violent crimes.
Even though the other inmates are incarcerated for a reason, he says they deserve to be able to serve their time without having to worry about being attacked at random.
