Colorado man sentenced to prison after shooting, killing Monticello man in property dispute

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MONTICELLO — A Colorado man was sent to prison after admitting to killing a man in southern Utah over a property dispute.

Charging documents say Sage Jennings Daves fired 17 shots at Lemuel Prion, 61, hitting him multiple times; Daves told police he acted in self-defense and was threatened with a pitchfork.

Daves, 23, will spend one to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty to manslaughter, a second-degree felony. He was sentenced on Thursday by 7th District Judge Don Torgerson, who gave him credit for the year he has already spent in jail.

Daves' Aug. 12 plea was part of a deal with prosecutors that reduced the charge from murder, a first-degree felony. Three additional charges were also dismissed with the plea deal: criminal trespass, possession of a controlled substance, and use or possession of drug paraphernalia, all class B misdemeanors.

Five people associated with Prion filed official statements opposing the plea deal, but it was still accepted by the judge.

Brandon Merrill, attorney for Prion's family with Utah Homicide Survivors, told KSL.com the family maintains Daves' actions merited a charge higher than manslaughter. He said they felt the community and a jury deserved to learn the details of what happened — even the family learned new information at the sentencing.

Still, Merrill said Prion's family was glad the judge ordered a prison sentence rather than releasing Daves with credit just for the time he had served in jail — a sentence that was considered.

The judge took a recess after hearing comments from family and arguments from attorneys all morning and returned to give the sentence two hours later.

Before the guilty plea, Daves' case was scheduled for a justification hearing in October with a plan to schedule a jury trial afterward. Utah's law allows a defendant to ask for a judge to dismiss charges ahead of trial if they can prove they acted in self-defense in a justification hearing.

Charges said Daves received a call on Aug. 25, 2023, that Prion was "causing issues" on Daves' family land, so Daves drove to Prion's home to talk to him.

Daves told police that Prion "threatened to burn Sage's family alive" and then threatened him with a pitchfork, a police affidavit alleges. Daves grabbed a gun from his car, the charges say, and pointed it at Prion while Prion continued to threaten him and stabbed his truck with a pitchfork.

According to the charges, Daves told officers he shot at Prion after Prion had "lunged at Sage with the pitchfork."

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Emily Ashcraft

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Emily Ashcraft is an award-winning reporter for KSL.com. She covers state courts and legal affairs as well as health and religion news. In her spare time, Emily enjoys crafting, cycling and raising chickens.