Craig Alton Miller, the man accused of building and detonating a homemade firework that nearly killed an 11-year-old boy in Lehi on Pioneer Day, faces a number of felony charges in connection with the incident.

The Utah County Attorney's Office on Tuesday announced that it charged Miller, 45, with possession or control of an explosive or incendiary device, child abuse and obstruction of justice.

On July 24, Bridger Hunt of Orem was riding his bicycle near his grandparents' Lehi home when Miller's homemade firework exploded 30-40 feet away, Lehi police said. Shrapnel tore through the boy's body when the device exploded, leaving him with severe injuries between his ribs and thighs. Hunt spent most of Monday in surgery.

Police described the explosive device as a 12- to 18-inch pipe filled with black powder.

"It was a pipe with homemade black powder in it, and under those circumstances the state would consider it a pipe bomb and not just a homemade firework, although that may have been his intent," said deputy county attorney Craig Johnson.

Prosecutors do not believe Miller intended to hurt anyone, Johnson said, but his use of the device in a public area was reckless.

"He was reckless in the way he prepared it and to think he could do that in a public place around other people, endangering others with a large amount of homemade black powder," Johnson said.

Johnson would not elaborate on why Miller was charged with obstruction of justice. The basis for a defendant's charges is usually outlined in a probable cause statement, which is entered into the public record when the Utah County Attorney's Office files criminal charges. But because Hunt's mother, Mindy Carter-Shaw, requested that Miller be given a summons to appear in court instead of being arrested, there will likely be no public record of the allegations behind the obstruction charge until the case goes to a preliminary hearing or trial, Johnson said.

"All I can say is, based on information contained in the police report ... the state is confident that it can prove to a jury beyond a reasonable doubt that Craig obstructed justice while Lehi police and fire was investigating his role in this tragedy," Johnson said.

Carter-Shaw spoke briefly at a press conference at Primary Children's Medical Center about Miller, saying she wanted the man to be summoned to court instead of arrested. The police and county attorney have worked closely with her and have largely respected her wishes, she said.

"I feel there's no reason for him to be in jail," she said. "It pulls him from his family. It hurts him. We're already hurt; it's not going to change my son's outcome."

Carter-Shaw said she wants to remain positive and does not wish for anyone to be harsh toward Miller. Travis Shaw, Hunt's stepfather, said the family has spoken with Miller and they know that it was a mistake.

"We've just talked with him, and he just expressed his remorse," Shaw said. "He truly would trade places with him if he could."

Shaw said he hopes that if anything comes from the tragedy, it will be that others will think before they light a dangerous explosive and thus prevent similar accidents.

Hunt spent 12 hours in surgery on Monday at Primary Children's Medical Center in Salt Lake City as doctors tried to save his left leg, and Johnson said the thoughts and prayers of the county attorney's office are with Hunt.

"Although the judicial process has to run its course, in the background we want people to focus on the great life that Bridger has led and the potential that he still has in his life to be a contributing member of society," Johnson said.

In a news conference Tuesday at Primary Children's Medical Center, pediatric trauma surgeon Dr. Eric Scaife said Hunt's reconstructive surgery went well, and he believes that the boy's leg will be saved. Several teams of doctors worked on the leg through the night to repair damaged arteries, tissue and bone.

"That reconstruction took a long time, and it required multiple metal plates on the pelvis and multiple fixation screws in the head of his femur," Scaife said.

Several teams of surgeons took part in the operation, including vascular surgeons, orthopedic surgeons and plastic surgeons. Doctors cut out damaged tissue in the leg and worked to rebuild the veins and tissue in Hunt's hip. A 12-centimeter piece of Hunt's femoral artery was replaced with a vein from his thigh, and muscle from his leg was placed over the wound so the healthy tissue can help damaged tissue heal.

Although the operation went well, Scaife said Hunt will certainly require more surgery in the future to complete the recovery process. It will be hard to predict the outcome for Hunt, and Scaife said the biggest obstacle at the moment is fighting infection.

"Now, he's still left with a large, almost dinner plate-sized, defect that doesn't have any skin, and that has a special sterile dressing over the top," he said.

The dressing, known as a vacuum-packed dressing, will be kept in place for the next couple of weeks with the hope that the area will heal to the point that it can accept a skin graft.

Scaife said he does not know how long Hunt will be hospitalized, but it will be at least one to two months. Hunt's leg will most likely be saved, but Scaife said he does not know what the extent of the use will be. The femoral nerve was also severed and will probably not be repairable. Without the femoral nerve, the knee cannot be stabilized without a brace.

"We're discussing nerve grafting and so forth; I'm not sure that this is a nerve injury that is repairable," he said.

The sciatic nerve may be intact, which will improve function in the leg, but Scaife said doctors will not know the condition of the nerve until Hunt wakes. Doctors have been monitoring Hunt's vital functions and gradually weaning him from sedatives, and Hunt remains on a ventilator.

Carter-Shaw said the ventilator scared Hunt, who thought he did not have enough fluids because his mouth was so dry.

"I think I'm going to die because I don't have enough water," he said before his surgery. "Don't let me die because I don't have enough water."

Accounts have been set up under the name Bridger Nathaniel Hunt at Zions Bank and Central Bank, and Carter-Shaw said friends and neighbors have been very kind throughout the ordeal. A fundraiser will also be held Aug. 7 at Bonneville Park in Orem, and Hunt's friends have gone from door to door and held bake sales to help raise money and awareness.

"You girls and you boys are so precious and so sweet," Carter-Shaw said.