OGDEN, Utah — A Utah judge was overcome with emotion during a sentencing hearing in the death of 12-year-old Gavin Peterson, pausing as she addressed the boy’s father and describing in stark terms the prolonged abuse that left the child emaciated and dying of sepsis in a West Haven home.
Second District Judge Camille Neider, who said it was the first time in roughly 25 years on the bench that she had become tearful in court, sat with her hand near her mouth as she reviewed medical and investigative findings. In courtroom video that circulated widely, she appears visibly distressed while a photo of a smiling Gavin is shown beside her. She told Shane Peterson, the boy’s father, “You were Gavin’s dad. I don’t think you deserve that title anymore,” and noted that she was more emotional about the child’s suffering than Peterson appeared to be.
Gavin Peterson died on July 9, 2024, after first responders found him unresponsive. Medical examiners determined the cause was complications from sepsis, with contributing factors that included severe malnutrition, dehydration, pneumonia, and untreated infections. His manner of death was ruled a homicide. Court documents and plea statements describe a years-long pattern in which Gavin was confined to a carpetless room with no bed or bedding, monitored by surveillance cameras, and given only minimal amounts of food and water, sometimes a piece of bread with mustard, a small portion of water, or nothing at all. Investigators recovered images and messages showing him wearing only a saturated diaper, with sores across his body. Texts among the three defendants discussed beatings, including with objects such as a piñata stick, and expressed hostility toward the child.
Prosecutors said there was a significant delay in calling for help after Gavin stopped breathing. During that time, evidence indicates efforts were made to remove cameras and alter the door hardware before authorities arrived. Shane Peterson, stepmother Nichole Scott, and older brother Tyler Peterson were each charged. All three later pleaded guilty to child abuse homicide and related felonies.
The case drew particular attention because of prior contacts with Utah’s child welfare system. The Division of Child and Family Services had received multiple reports about the household dating back years, including allegations involving Gavin and an older sister. Weber School District staff, including cafeteria workers and others, said they had filed complaints after observing signs that the boy was hungry and neglected; he was later withdrawn from school in 2023. School employees described sharing food with him and raising concerns that went unaddressed in a way that prevented the outcome. Lawmakers later questioned the response and proposed changes to allow more proactive checks in certain cases.
At Shane Peterson’s May 6, 2025, sentencing, Judge Neider ordered consecutive terms: five years to life for child abuse homicide, plus additional one-to-15-year and zero-to-five-year sentences on other counts, resulting in a minimum of roughly eight years to life. She imposed the maximum available under the plea. In monitored jail calls after the plea, prosecutors said Peterson remarked that he had managed to “push out a tear for the judge.”
Nichole Scott was sentenced days later. Judge Neider called her the “architect of Gavin’s destruction,” stated that the case was the most horrific she had seen in 30 years as an attorney and judge, and said she hoped Scott would never be released. Scott received a sentence with a 15-to-20-year minimum to life on the lead count and related charges, ordered consecutively. The judge told her she had daily opportunities to stop the abuse and instead participated in stripping the boy of basic dignity.
Tyler Peterson, then in his early 20s, was sentenced in February 2026 to five years to life for child abuse homicide, with other terms ordered to run concurrently and credit for time served. The judge acknowledged he was not the primary decision-maker in the household but found he had been an active participant.
Family members and school staff who knew Gavin described a child who had been isolated from normal childhood activities. In court filings, prosecutors noted that the only images recovered of him showed him locked in the room under the conditions described. The three defendants were shown in orange jumpsuits during court appearances.
The case has remained a reference point in discussions of child protection in Utah, with officials and lawmakers citing the multiple prior reports and the eventual withdrawal from school as points where intervention did not prevent the outcome. Gavin’s death and the judge’s rare public display of emotion while imposing the sentences underscored for many the severity of the documented neglect and abuse that spanned years in the West Haven home.
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