Roy man sentenced to jail in killing while they were practicing gun draws from holsters

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Benjamin Garrett Davis was sentenced to a year in jail for manslaughter in the accidental death of Calum Mason Bostrom.
• The two were practicing firearm-draw drills in Davis' Roy apartment when Davis, who thought his gun was unloaded, shot Bostrom.

OGDEN — A Roy man has been sentenced to a year in jail in the inadvertent killing of another man while the two were practicing pulling guns from holsters.

Benjamin Garrett Davis, 24, pleaded guilty last month to manslaughter, a second-degree felony, in the accidental killing of Calum Mason Bostrom on March 8. Second District Judge Matthew Hansen sentenced Davis to 364 days in jail Wednesday with 73 days of credit for time previously served, and also handed down a suspended prison term of one to 15 years in prison.

Two other charges Davis faced — reckless endangerment, a class A misdemeanor, and committing a violent offense in the presence of a child, a class B misdemeanor — were dismissed as part of a plea deal on April 7. "Given the circumstances of this case, the state does not believe that a prison sentence would be warranted," the plea deal states.

Davis and Bostrom were performing firearm draw drills in Davis' Roy apartment when the deadly incident occurred. The incident was captured on video from security cameras inside the apartment.

"During one of the drills, Davis draws his handgun, points it toward Bostrom, and pulls the trigger. The firearm discharges and Bostrom is immediately struck in the head and collapses to the floor," the plea deal says. Davis said he thought his gun was unloaded.

Bostrom was transported to a hospital and subsequently died as a result of the gunshot wound. His obituary says he was "a deeply compassionate and caring person" who had recently received certification as a gunsmith.

"Cal had a quick wit and loved making people laugh, often lightening the mood and bringing joy to those around him. He lived with creativity, warmth and a genuine love for the people around him," it says.

A 2-year-old child who lived in the apartment was present, leading to the charge of committing a violent offense in the presence of a child.

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.

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Tim Vandenack

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Tim Vandenack covers immigration, multicultural issues and Northern Utah for KSL. He worked several years for the Standard-Examiner in Ogden and has lived and reported in Mexico, Chile and along the U.S.-Mexico border.