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

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

Mayloni Peterson, 19, Gavin Peterson’s older sister, alleged she also suffered physical abuse and starvation at the hands of her father, Shane Peterson, stepmother Nichole Scott, and on occasion her older brother, Tyler Peterson.

Shane, 46, Nichole, 50, and Tyler, 21, are in custody facing multiple charges connected to Gavin’s death including child abuse homicide. They are due back in court on August 1.

“They manipulated me into hating my mom… and cut off all contact with her,” Mayloni Peterson said.

Mayloni Peterson said she lived in a world of isolation under the roof of her father Shane Peterson and his partner Nichole Scott in West Haven.

According to Mayloni, she noticed her father and stepmother’s attitude start to change when she was about 13 in late 2018, after living with them for over 2 years. Mayloni’s older brother Tyler, younger brother Gavin — about 6-years-old at the time, and a half-brother one year younger than Gavin also lived in the home.

“I started looking a little bit like my mom and Nichole started to resent me for it,” Mayloni Peterson said. “She called me names every day. It was just constant, just horrible.”

Mayloni described being berated and beaten by Nichole, who she said once shaved her head as punishment for brushing her hair.

“I found a comb on the bathroom floor and I started combing my hair with it, and she found out about it, and got really mad at me. And that’s what eventually led to her shaving my head,” Mayloni said.

Mayloni said she had to be “granted permission” to shower and use the restroom — which she could only use with the door open.

“She would tell me what to do and I would listen. At that time, I was mostly focused on surviving,” Mayloni said. “I don’t know how I did it, but I remember her telling me that she wanted to kill me.”

The then 13-year-old also spent long hours outside; doing yard work at her dad’s house and her great-grandmother’s place across the street.

“I was their maid… they would have me outside from morning until dinner time,” Mayloni said.

Over the course of several months, Mayloni said she was only fed one or two times per day.

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

Mayloni said she was fed the same food prosecutors allege, in court documents, that her little brother Gavin ate. After his death on July 9, doctors observed Gavin’s body was “visibly emaciated” and his internal organs “shut down completely,” according to court documents.

“I ate the same thing Gavin did, bread with mustard, because we hated it [mustard],” Mayloni said.

Of the food she ate, Mayloni said she would “prefer not to go there.”

To this day, she said memories of the abuse haunt her. “I remember watching the hands on the clock, I would count, seven maybe 10 hours before I was allowed to eat anything.”

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

Mayloni also talked about being locked inside the bedroom she shared with her siblings; her stepmother kept a camera on a dresser in the room to track her movements.

“She had a surveillance camera, she had an app on her phone and she would track everything I did,” Mayloni said.

At one point, Mayloni alleged she was tied to the bed with zip ties.

“They would tie my ankles and she said if I moved, she would beat me over and over again.” Mayloni said that the punishments were often ordered and carried out by her stepmother. Her father also participated or watched as they were executed.

According to Mayloni, her older brother, Tyler Peterson, was also encouraged to beat her even though the two siblings had once been close.

“Tyler, he basically did whatever they wanted. They told him it was okay to beat me. I don’t know what was going through his head at the time,” Mayloni said. “It’s just hard knowing that he was my best friend.”

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

At the time, Mayloni said Gavin wasn’t punished as severely as she was. Instead, she was punished whenever her little brother “did something bad.”

“I was worried something bad was going to happen to [Gavin],” Mayloni said.

Mayloni said Nichole beat her with a belt or a wooden spoon almost daily and once threw a ketchup bottle at her.

In March 2019, Mayloni said a concerned friend reported the abuse to a school counselor and a case worker with the Utah Division of Child and Family Services was brought in to interview her.

At first, Mayloni said she told the case worker she was fine because she was afraid Shane and Nichole would retaliate against her, but she eventually opened up.

“That time I was actually hit with some sort of wooden spoon and it made a bruise on my thigh,” Mayloni said. “I told them I was like deathly terrified to go back with them.”

Mayloni said a “safety plan” was created and Nichole wasn’t allowed to be alone with her.

“They told me I was supposed to go to my great-grandma’s house across the street until my dad came home,” Mayloni said.

Melanie Peterson, Mayloni’s mom, said she wasn’t informed about the incident until April when a caseworker called about the safety plan and the case “being closed out.”

“I was shocked,” Melanie said.

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

According to Mayloni, the abuse escalated. The following month, in April, she tried to run away to her mother’s house, but her father and Nichole found her near a gas station.

“She strangled me in the backseat of my dad’s car,” Mayloni said. “I thought I was going to die.”

Mayloni said she wasn’t allowed to attend the last two weeks of school.

“They said I didn’t deserve to go to school so they would have me outside all day,” Mayloni said.

In May, Mayloni said something changed. She was outside doing yard work when she accidentally ran over a sprinkler with the lawnmower and broke it. It was Saturday, May 25, 2019 — Memorial Day weekend.

“I was so scared,” Mayloni said.

Her stepmother was napping but her dad was awake and told her to get in the car so they could go buy a replacement. Instead, Mayloni said he drove her to Melanie’s house.

“He drove me to my mom’s house and ended up dropping me off with no warning, nothing,” Mayloni said. “I can’t tell you how relieved I was.”

That same day Mayloni told her mom about the abuse she had experienced. Melanie said she called the non-emergency number at the Weber County Sheriff’s Office and was referred to DCFS.

After the holiday weekend, Mayloni met with a caseworker. She said a deputy with the Sheriff’s Office also interviewed her.

“I found out it was the same detective that had talked to her about a [previous] incident with the belt,” Melanie said.

“He told me that there was sometimes too strict of parenting and sometimes too relaxed parenting, meaning Shane was too strict and I was too relaxed and that he couldn’t go arrest someone for giving someone a bad haircut,” Melanie said.

As for the DCFS case worker, “They basically told me they couldn’t do anything, like there was no evidence, even though they took a picture of a bruise Nicole had given me on my thigh. It was the size of a golf ball, maybe bigger,” Mayloni said.

After learning about Mayloni’s abuse, Melanie said she once again hired an attorney to fight for visitation rights to see Gavin. Melanie said she was reunited with him on Thanksgiving Day of the same year.

Melanie saw him every other weekend until late February 2020, when she alleged Shane and Nichole found out she took a picture of him to document signs of malnutrition. Melanie alleged they blocked her from ever seeing Gavin again.

Mayloni believed the abuse of Gavin worsened after she moved out.

“I just can’t believe she killed him, knowing the same thing could’ve happened to me,” Mayloni said.

“I want Gavin to get the justice he deserves. I don’t know what is going to change but I hope it’s the system. I hope that they are open to creating new laws to protect the safety of kids.”

The Utah Division of Child and Family Services has declined to comment on the case.

The Weber County Sheriff’s Office has also declined KSL TV’s request for all police records and incidents related to Nichole Scott and Shane Peterson. In a push for transparency, KSL TV is appealing their denial.