WEST JORDAN, Utah — It was an emotional day for the friends and family of Smith, who waited in the hallways of the Third District Courthouse in West Jordan after seeing the two teenagers accused of killing him for the first time.
"It was very emotional, I saw a couple of young cowards, standing in the courtroom," said Lawrence Smith, Demajhio Smith’s uncle.
"It's incredibly sad, it's incredibly sad. We saw the family come in, or leave, and say they were so sorry on their way out and it breaks your heart," said Roxanne Clark, a friend of the family.
Law enforcement charged 17-year-old Drake Hernandez and 16-year-old Umda Dike with first-degree murder, and they are going to be tried as adults. But Smith's family wants the charges upgraded to aggravated murder.
WATCH | Family of man killed in Holladay pushes for upgraded charges against 2 teenagers
"Demajhio did not, he didn't have no children, I feel that these children should not be able to come out and be able to have a family and children of their own. With the aggravated charge, it can push it out to thirty or forty more years," said Ronald Smith, Demajhio Smith’s father.
Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill said in a statement that a regular murder charge comes with a sentence of 15 years to life, but an aggravated murder comes with a sentence of 25 to life without parole or the death penalty.
"In aggravated murder, the defendant must specifically intend to cause the death, and they must have committed one of the enumerated aggravators in Utah State Code 76-5-202," Gill said.
He continued, saying homicides are reviewed by a team of senior and homicide attorneys to see what the evidence supports. Based on the evidence they had, they filed the appropriate charges.
But Demajhio Smith's family and friends disagree.
"Honestly, I feel like the charges that we have now are good, but I'd want to push for something a little stronger, just so nothing like this could ever happen again to anybody else," said Lilian Sannoh, Demajhio Smith’s cousin.
The family also wants stricter penalties when it comes to minors carrying guns, and they are getting a lot of support.
"The community is behind this, the community's fighting and it is a beautiful thing, and it is a tragedy that my son's life was taken to show something that was so beautiful, something that is so beautiful," Ronald Smith said.