Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
SALT LAKE CITY — As Brandon Parker prepares to enter the Utah State Prison system, he says he is also trying to plan ahead for the day he is no longer incarcerated.
On March 14, 2020, Parker, who was 17 at the time, and his best friend Caden Ferguson, 16, were playing with a gun early that morning in Parker's Ogden home when Parker shot Caden in the head and killed him.
Parker was originally charged as an adult in 2nd District Court with murder, a first-degree felony. He later pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of manslaughter, a second-degree felony. He was sentenced to a term of one to 15 years in prison. But as part of his plea deal, Parker was allowed to remain in the custody of a juvenile detention facility until he turns 21 years and 6 months old, before being moved into an adult facility.
Parker appeared before the Utah Board of Pardons and Parole Tuesday for the first time. Board member Blake Hills, who conducted the hearing, made it clear that the hearing was more procedural as Parker is expected to enter prison sometime within the next six months, and told him it is "not a realistic exception" to expect a parole date will be set yet. He said the board will likely use the results from Tuesday's hearing to schedule a follow-up hearing, at which time parole could be more of a possibility.
Parker turned 21 in January.
During the hearing, Caden's mother, Ruth Ferguson, recalled the tight bond she had with her son, and asked the board to make Parker serve his full sentence.
"The 16 years I was blessed with (Caden) was an unbreakable bond," she said. "When Brandon chose to end Caden's life, he took a big part of my soul I'll never be able to get back. … This not something you get over or get through. You move forward because you have no choice."
When Hills asked Parker if he would like to respond to the mother's comments, he said in a very soft voice, "No, sir."
Hills, however, did go over with Parker what happened on that night. Parker recounted how he had known Caden since grade school and described the tight bond that grew between them.
"That was my brother, that's how I see it. I consider him my brother more than a friend," he said.
When asked what happened the night of the shooting, Parker used words such as "mistake," "accidental" and "complete stupidity" to describe the event.
"It wasn't intentional at all. I didn't mean for it to happen," he said.
Parker said he had been drinking and doing drugs that night, and he and Caden were "messing around like kids do."
"We made a choice to play with a firearm and thought it was unloaded. I personally thought it was unloaded. We were dry-firing the firearm at each other. ... I went to dry-fire it, and the firearm went off. Then I ran into my mother's room and woke her and told her and we called 911," said Parker, who added that he immediately felt suicidal and was going to shoot himself before his mother convinced him to give her the gun.
Since being incarcerated, Parker says he has been working with a therapist weekly to improve his mental health. He is also taking college courses and hopes to get involved in the culinary program once he enters prison and have a career in that field when he is released.
He admits it is "stressful" thinking about his move from juvenile detention to prison. But he feels he has "definitely changed" since being arrested, and now stops to think about the consequences of his actions before acting.
The full board of pardons will issue a decision in a few weeks. Parker would be released in 2035 if he serves his full sentence.
