The accused killer of University of Utah student Mackenzie Lueck pleaded guilty Wednesday to aggravated murder and abuse or desecration of a human body in a plea agreement that will let him avoid the death penalty. Ayoola Ajayi, 32, was initially charged with aggravated murder, kidnapping, obstruction of justice, and desecration of a human body …
A Utah man has been jailed on charges of producing child pornography from his home and sexually abusing a 4-year-old boy — and filming it — at a church. Thomas Michael Wallin, 21, faces three charges of felony sexual exploitation of a minor and one count of aggravated sexual abuse of a child, a first-degree …
A Utah woman will spend a year in jail for the death of her 2-year-old foster son. In 2018, Lisa Jo Vanderlinden was arrested after her foster son was found unresponsive in a home near Roosevelt, Utah. The boy, identified as Lucas Call, passed away from his injuries. Medical examiners determined his death was due …
Utah police on Tuesday arrested a man for firing into a vehicle that attempted to drive into a protest against police brutality in Provo, the Daily Herald reported. Police said Jesse Taggart, 33, was charged with several crimes, including first degree attempted aggravated murder and second degree aggravated assault. Police also arrested Samantha Darling, 27, …
A Utah man was arrested Saturday after he allegedly tried to force a woman to have sex with him and refused to let her leave his apartment, the Orem Daily Herald reports. Police were called to John DeHaven’s basement apartment in Orem when his upstairs neighbors called to report hearing a woman screaming. The woman …
A Utah police officer was shot in the head while his back was turned to the man who killed him, according to a report from the Weber County Attorney’s Office released on Wednesday. Ogden City Officer Nathan Lyday, 24, died instantly on May 28 while he and another officer were responded to a domestic abuse …
An Ogden city police officer was killed and a probation officer wounded Thursday responding to a domestic violence call in the northeastern part of the Utah city. Deseret News reported that a woman called 911 shortly after noon and told dispatchers that her husband was threatening to kill her. The call was disconnected, and when …
A 28-year-old Utah woman was facing at most a leaving the scene of an accident charge, but she ended up jailed on an attempted murder charge after she fled the accident scene, refused to stop when police ordered her to, and tried to run over an officer. Samantha Bencomo of Nephi allegedly backed into a …
Police in Utah are investigating after at least five children reportedly ate THC-infused candy that they received from a food bank on Friday. KUTV reported that an 11-year-old and 5-year-old girl were hospitalized after eating “Medicated Nerds Rope.” The younger girl’s father told the news station that the girl’s grandmother picked up the food, and …
A parolee in Utah who was released from a halfway house early due to the coronavirus pandemic allegedly broke into a random home and held a woman at knifepoint. KSL reported that the incident involving Joshua Haskell, 42, occurred in American Fork on March 19. Haskell allegedly forced entry into a home and, while brandishing …
The little girl’s body was found hog-tied and nude in a creek
A Utah woman was arrested last Wednesday for allegedly inflicting 44 injuries on her 14-month-old granddaughter earlier this month while she was in her care. Sally Lacayo, 47, was charged with first-degree sexual abuse of a child and second-degree intentionally inflicting serious physical injury to a child. The Gephardt Daily reported that emergency crews who …
