Sister of Utah boy who died of starvation says she faced similar abuse by those accused in his death

Garna Mejia, KSL TV

WEST HAVEN, Utah (KSL TV) — The sister of nan 12-year-old boy allegedly starved to decease successful West Haven is breaking her silence.

Mayloni Peterson, 19, Gavin Peterson’s older sister, alleged she besides suffered beingness maltreatment and starvation astatine nan hands of her father, Shane Peterson, stepmother Nichole Scott, and connected juncture her older brother, Tyler Peterson.

Shane, 46, Nichole, 50, and Tyler, 21, are successful custody facing aggregate charges connected to Gavin’s decease including kid maltreatment homicide. They are owed backmost successful tribunal connected August 1.

“They manipulated maine into hating my mom… and trim disconnected each interaction pinch her,” Mayloni Peterson said.

Mayloni Peterson said she lived successful a world of isolation nether nan tile of her begetter Shane Peterson and his partner Nichole Scott successful West Haven.

According to Mayloni, she noticed her begetter and stepmother’s cognition commencement to alteration erstwhile she was astir 13 successful precocious 2018, aft surviving pinch them for complete 2 years. Mayloni’s older relative Tyler, younger relative Gavin — astir 6-years-old astatine nan time, and a half-brother 1 twelvemonth younger than Gavin besides lived successful nan home.

“I started looking a small spot for illustration my mom and Nichole started to resent maine for it,” Mayloni Peterson said. “She called maine names each day. It was conscionable constant, conscionable horrible.”

Mayloni described being berated and beaten by Nichole, who she said erstwhile shaved her caput arsenic reward for brushing her hair.

“I recovered a comb connected nan bath level and I started combing my hairsbreadth pinch it, and she recovered retired astir it, and sewage really huffy astatine me. And that’s what yet led to her shaving my head,” Mayloni said.

Mayloni said she had to beryllium “granted permission” to ablution and usage nan restroom — which she could only usage pinch nan doorway open.

“She would show maine what to do and I would listen. At that time, I was mostly focused connected surviving,” Mayloni said. “I don’t cognize really I did it, but I retrieve her telling maine that she wanted to termination me.”

The past 13-year-old besides spent agelong hours outside; doing gait activity astatine her dad’s location and her great-grandmother’s spot crossed nan street.

“I was their maid… they would person maine extracurricular from greeting until meal time,” Mayloni said.

Over nan people of respective months, Mayloni said she was only fed 1 aliases 2 times per day.

“They would starve maine until I was really skinny,” Mayloni said.

Mayloni said she was fed nan aforesaid nutrient prosecutors allege, successful tribunal documents, that her small relative Gavin ate. After his decease connected July 9, doctors observed Gavin’s assemblage was “visibly emaciated” and his soul organs “shut down completely,” according to tribunal documents.

“I ate nan aforesaid point Gavin did, breadstuff pinch mustard, because we hated it [mustard],” Mayloni said.

Of nan nutrient she ate, Mayloni said she would “prefer not to spell there.”

To this day, she said memories of nan maltreatment haunt her. “I retrieve watching nan hands connected nan clock, I would count, 7 possibly 10 hours earlier I was allowed to eat anything.”

“[Nichole’s] still successful my head,” Mayloni said.

Mayloni besides talked astir being locked wrong nan chamber she shared pinch her siblings; her stepmother kept a camera connected a dresser successful nan room to way her movements.

“She had a surveillance camera, she had an app connected her telephone and she would way everything I did,” Mayloni said.

At 1 point, Mayloni alleged she was tied to nan furniture pinch zip ties.

“They would necktie my ankles and she said if I moved, she would hit maine complete and complete again.” Mayloni said that nan punishments were often ordered and carried retired by her stepmother. Her begetter besides participated aliases watched arsenic they were executed.

According to Mayloni, her older brother, Tyler Peterson, was besides encouraged to hit her moreover though nan 2 siblings had erstwhile been close.

“Tyler, he fundamentally did immoderate they wanted. They told him it was okay to hit me. I don’t cognize what was going done his caput astatine nan time,” Mayloni said. “It’s conscionable difficult knowing that he was my champion friend.”

“I judge he was manipulated by them,” Mayloni said of Tyler. “That’s what he knew.”

At nan time, Mayloni said Gavin wasn’t punished arsenic severely arsenic she was. Instead, she was punished whenever her small relative “did thing bad.”

“I was worried thing bad was going to hap to [Gavin],” Mayloni said.

Mayloni said Nichole hit her pinch a loop aliases a woody spoon almost regular and erstwhile threw a ketchup vessel astatine her.

In March 2019, Mayloni said a concerned friend reported nan maltreatment to a schoolhouse counsellor and a lawsuit worker pinch nan Utah Division of Child and Family Services was brought successful to question and reply her.

At first, Mayloni said she told nan lawsuit worker she was good because she was acrophobic Shane and Nichole would retaliate against her, but she yet opened up.

“That clip I was really deed pinch immoderate benignant of woody spoon and it made a bruise connected my thigh,” Mayloni said. “I told them I was for illustration deathly terrified to spell backmost pinch them.”

Mayloni said a “safety plan” was created and Nichole wasn’t allowed to beryllium unsocial pinch her.

“They told maine I was expected to spell to my great-grandma’s location crossed nan thoroughfare until my dada came home,” Mayloni said.

Melanie Peterson, Mayloni’s mom, said she wasn’t informed astir nan incident until April erstwhile a caseworker called astir nan information scheme and nan lawsuit “being closed out.”

“I was shocked,” Melanie said.

“I told her Nichole has anger issues, that is not going to trim it. And that is each I heard from her,” Melanie said. “They said they couldn’t do thing without nan Weber County Sheriff’s Office to intervene.”

According to Mayloni, nan maltreatment escalated. The pursuing month, successful April, she tried to tally distant to her mother’s house, but her begetter and Nichole recovered her adjacent a state station.

“She strangled maine successful nan backseat of my dad’s car,” Mayloni said. “I thought I was going to die.”

Mayloni said she wasn’t allowed to be nan past 2 weeks of school.

“They said I didn’t merit to spell to schoolhouse truthful they would person maine extracurricular each day,” Mayloni said.

In May, Mayloni said thing changed. She was extracurricular doing gait activity erstwhile she accidentally ran complete a sprinkler pinch nan lawnmower and collapsed it. It was Saturday, May 25, 2019 — Memorial Day weekend.

“I was truthful scared,” Mayloni said.

Her stepmother was napping but her dada was awake and told her to get successful nan car truthful they could spell bargain a replacement. Instead, Mayloni said he drove her to Melanie’s house.

“He drove maine to my mom’s location and ended up dropping maine disconnected pinch nary warning, nothing,” Mayloni said. “I can’t show you really relieved I was.”

That aforesaid time Mayloni told her mom astir nan maltreatment she had experienced. Melanie said she called nan non-emergency number astatine nan Weber County Sheriff’s Office and was referred to DCFS.

After nan vacation weekend, Mayloni met pinch a caseworker. She said a lawman pinch nan Sheriff’s Office besides interviewed her.

“I recovered retired it was nan aforesaid detective that had talked to her astir a [previous] incident pinch nan belt,” Melanie said.

“He told maine that location was sometimes excessively strict of parenting and sometimes excessively relaxed parenting, meaning Shane was excessively strict and I was excessively relaxed and that he couldn’t spell apprehension personification for giving personification a bad haircut,” Melanie said.

As for nan DCFS lawsuit worker, “They fundamentally told maine they couldn’t do anything, for illustration location was nary evidence, moreover though they took a image of a bruise Nicole had fixed maine connected my thigh. It was nan size of a play ball, possibly bigger,” Mayloni said.

After learning astir Mayloni’s abuse, Melanie said she erstwhile again hired an lawyer to conflict for visitation authorities to spot Gavin. Melanie said she was reunited pinch him connected Thanksgiving Day of nan aforesaid year.

Melanie saw him each different play until precocious February 2020, erstwhile she alleged Shane and Nichole recovered retired she took a image of him to archive signs of malnutrition. Melanie alleged they blocked her from ever seeing Gavin again.

Mayloni believed nan maltreatment of Gavin worsened aft she moved out.

“I conscionable can’t judge she killed him, knowing nan aforesaid point could’ve happened to me,” Mayloni said.

“I want Gavin to get nan justness he deserves. I don’t cognize what is going to alteration but I dream it’s nan system. I dream that they are unfastened to creating caller laws to protect nan information of kids.”

The Utah Division of Child and Family Services has declined to remark connected nan case.

The Weber County Sheriff’s Office has besides declined KSL TV’s petition for each constabulary records and incidents related to Nichole Scott and Shane Peterson. In a push for transparency, KSL TV is appealing their denial.