'I was a kid': Man seeks parole for 2009 murder committed when he was 14

Estimated read time: 4-5 minutes

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Antonie Farani is seeking parole for a 2009 murder committed when he was just 14.
He expressed remorse, citing changes and a desire to contribute positively.
The parole board will decide soon, taking his crime and past prison discipline issues into consideration.

UTAH STATE PRISON — Antonie Hunter Farani was 14 years old when he shot JoJo Brandstatt, 18, three times execution-style on a West Valley golf course and left him for dead while he committed more crimes in 2009.

Farani was eventually arrested, charged and convicted. In 2012, he was sentenced to a minimum of 20 years and up to life in the Utah State Prison for aggravated murder, and 15 years to life for two counts of aggravated kidnapping. The murder and kidnapping charges were ordered to run consecutively.

But because Farani was just 14 at the time of the crime, he was granted his first parole hearing on Tuesday.

Farani was very apologetic during the hearing and sounded remorseful about his crimes. He said while there is nothing he can say that will justify his actions, he asked the Utah Board of Pardons and Parole to consider his age when he kidnapped and killed Brandstatt.

"I'm not that same kid that came in 16 years ago. I've changed. I've spent more time behind bars than I've lived on those streets," he told the board. "I've changed every way possible in here. … I'm not the same man, I'm not the same kid.

"I'm asking for release and parole so I can try to make something out of myself. I owe it to my victims, especially JoJo," Farani said. "I was a kid. I didn't know anything or the tools that I have now."

He recounted to the board how he was "caught up in the gang lifestyle, and on Feb. 6, 2009, he "decided to do something that was horrible."

"I'm asking for release and parole so I can try to make something out of myself. I owe it to my victims, especially JoJo (Brandstatt)."

–Antonie Hunter Farani

It started when Farani and three others contacted a man and ended up kidnapping and robbing him for drugs and money, he said. After that, they asked the man if he knew anyone else whom they could rob, according to Farani. That's when the man put them in contact with Brandstatt. Farani said Tuesday that he believed Brandstatt was a rival gang member.

"That's when I made a decision that I will forever regret," he said. "There was a lot of mistakes that happened. Being caught up in the (gang) lifestyle was so negative."

Farani and others took Brandstatt to Westridge Golf Course, 5055 S. Westridge Blvd. (5950 West), shot him three times, and then left him there while Farani went off to rob three convenience stores.

"I know I made a horrible mistake that night. (I've thought) about it every day for the past 16 years," Farani said. "There was nothing good that came out of that.

"There's no amount of words that can express how deeply, deeply sorry I am," he continued. "There are no words that I can ever express that will ever heal that pain."

Although none of the victim's family members spoke at Tuesday's hearing, Farani says he has been in contact with Brandstatt's mother, Elka Fernandez, over the years, including a face-to-face meeting she requested soon after his incarceration to help provide her some closure.

"Hardest thing I ever had to do," Farani commented Tuesday while calling Fernandez a "strong" woman. "I crushed her heart. She died that night, too."

Farani recently got married while in prison and now has three stepsons. He says he also watches the news while incarcerated and sees a lot of violent crimes being committed by young people. He says his goal when he is released is to help others not make the same mistakes he did, which resulted in him being arrested at age 14 "because of a lifestyle I thought I believed in but in all reality was false."

Board member Dan Bokovoy, who conducted Tuesday's hearing, noted that while Farani hasn't had any disciplinary violations since 2023, he did have several in his early years in prison and even a charge of drug distribution in 2022. Farani replied that he was "doing something stupid" and claimed he was trying to earn money for his family.

"It was the only way I knew how to make a living (while in prison)," he said. "I know it was wrong and I take full responsibility."

Farani also says he is no longer an active gang member, and said his early years in prison were influenced by being a young person in a violent atmosphere.

"It hits, it hits home. There's an impact there that makes you feel like you're angry and negative," he said.

Several times on Tuesday, Farani became emotional as he said he owed it to his victims, "especially JoJo," to give back to the community and hopes the board can see his growth in recent years.

"I will do better, and I will make a difference," he said.

Bokovoy acknowledged Farani's achievements in recent years but told him it would be a difficult decision for the board on whether to grant parole due to the seriousness of his crimes and his discipline record when he first arrived at the prison.

The full five-member board is expected to announce its decision in a few weeks.

The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.