UT - 3 males charged with following 17-year old girl in vehicle for miles before shooting her to death - CEDAR CITY 1/17/25

[Clearsky]

https://www.abc4.com/news/southern-utah/police-17-year-old-girl-chased-down-killed-by-driver-in-cedar-city/

According to Sheriff Kenneth Carpenter with the Iron County Sheriff’s Office, three males were taken into custody on Saturday afternoon, with a fourth arrest expected.

 

[realanastasia]

Wonder if this will turn out to have been a targeted attack or if it’ll turn out to be another senseless death resulting from a combination of road rage (on the part of the murderers) and relatively easy access to firearms. I also wonder if the 911 call was from a bystander or if it came from the 17-year old victim herself (or if she phoned friends/family while geing chased and they made the call)—since the article mentions that police knew the spot where she first realized she was being tailed by her killers, I think it is likely one of the latter who made the call.

 

[Tealgrove]

Maybe a Gang thing?

I’m getting the feeling she was targeted and this was premeditated.

Also thinking the arrested are minors.

MOO

 

[Snoopster]

https://www.abc4.com/news/southern-utah/police-17-year-old-girl-chased-down-killed-by-driver-in-cedar-city/

According to Sheriff Kenneth Carpenter with the Iron County Sheriff’s Office, three males were taken into custody on Saturday afternoon, with a fourth arrest expected.

Oh my lord! How horrific! That poor girl.

 

[Knox]

Kaylee's Facebook Page - Log into Facebook

 

[Knox]

Investigators are asking the public to contact them with any information. The sheriff's office says anyone who saw a small red pickup truck being closely followed by a dark-colored truck or SUV on Lund Highway Friday night, specifically between 1600 North and Midvalley Road, or heading west on Midvalley Road toward the Three Peaks Campground area, to call dispatch.

Any businesses or homes along the road that may have captured surveillance footage should also contact dispatch, as the video could be extremely useful to the investigation, according to the release.

3 arrested in connection with teen driver shot, killed near Cedar City

Three people have been arrested as part of an investigation into the death of a 17-year-old girl who sheriff's investigators was shot and killed in Iron County Friday night.

www.ksl.com

 

[Marysmith]

Oh gosh, how terrible!

 

[Knox]

Not much out there yet, was Kaylee specifically targeted or was this a case of road rage?

 

[Quim The Extraordinaire]

KSL.com-Utah:

Four men were arrested Saturday after two of the men said they followed a vehicle they thought was "stalking" them, shooting at and killing the 17-year-old girl who was driving the car on Friday night, according to investigators.

Michael Edward Hess-Witacki, 23; Ethan Andrew Galloway, 23; Aldric S. Felipe, 21; and Matthew D. Sorber-Petri, 22, were each arrested in connection with the shooting.

Twelve shots were fired from the vehicle, according to a police booking affidavit filed in support of the four men's arrests. The vehicle then fled the scene.…

Investigators learned that the girls and men were in the same townhome complex for "unrelated reasons."

More at link.

 

[Knox]

KSL.com-Utah:





More at link.

CEDAR CITY — Four men were arrested Saturday after two of the men said they followed a vehicle they thought was "stalking" them, shooting at and killing the 17-year-old girl who was driving the car on Friday night, according to investigators.

 

[Knox]

Yeah, so you follow a vehicle you think was stalking you. Have no idea who they are, pull up along side said vehicle and fire off twelve rounds into the cab?

I hope more details about why this really happened are released soon. I suspect it will ultimately involve drugs on their part (not KayLee’s).

 

[Knox]

Michael Edward Hess-Witacki

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www.facebook.com

Haven't found any of the others yet.

 

[Marysmith]

Wow, she must have been terrified. I'm so glad they were caught!!

 

[realanastasia]

Oh my lord! How horrific! That poor girl.

The article has been updated to add that there was a passenger in the vehicle with the 17-year old driver.

 

[realanastasia]

New reporting: 2 arrested in shooting death of teen in southern Utah thought girls were 'stalking' them, police say

Four men were arrested Saturday after two of the men said they followed a vehicle they thought was “stalking” them, shooting at and killing the 17-year-old girl who was driving the car on Friday night, according to investigators.

Michael Edward Hess-Witacki, 23; Ethan Andrew Galloway, 23; Aldric S. Felipe, 21; and Matthew D. Sorber-Petri, 22, were each arrested in connection with the shooting.”

“Carpenter said the 17-year-old girl and her 18-year-old friend were in a red truck, driving along a stretch of road northwest of Cedar City to attend a bonfire, and were followed by a black pickup truck. About 10:42 p.m., he said the second vehicle pulled up alongside the teens and started firing.”

These four miscreants, adult men with lethal weapons in their possession (ALL of whom were not even legally permitted to have firearms), fired TWELVE SHOTS at the two teenage girls who were simply going out to enjoy a social gathering because they…thought the girls were “stalking them”? Give me a break.

IMO, it’s remarkable that the passenger survived.

 

[Knox]

And I won’t be surprised if we come to learn that he thinks this apology should be sufficient reason to let him off with a slap on the wrist.

He wrote a letter to her parents explaining why he annihilated their daughter with a gun, as if it’s a rational, explainable, act. I’ve never heard anything like this before.

Hope it will be admissible in court.

 

[Tealgrove]

Unbelievable! So four men determined that they were being stalked by this red truck.

I guess they were scared? Read sarcasm. Was there a reason that supposedly being stalked would warrant such an extreme reaction?

I’m thinking some paranoia (mushrooms other drugs perhaps) had a hand in their thought processes. Perhaps they were into other illegal activities that made them decide to try and kill the driver and passenger of the targeted vehicle. I’m also not convinced that this is the real reason they shot up the truck.

So stupid of them and so incredibly tragic for the victim.

MOO

 

[Knox]

Unbelievable! So four men determined that they were being stalked by this red truck.

I guess they were scared? Read sarcasm. Was there a reason that supposedly being stalked would warrant such an extreme reaction?

I’m thinking some paranoia (mushrooms other drugs perhaps) had a hand in their thought processes. Perhaps they were into other illegal activities that made them decide to try and kill the driver and passenger of the targeted vehicle. I’m also not convinced that this is the real reason they shot up the truck.

So stupid of them and so incredibly tragic for the victim.

MOO

Utterly senseless. I agree drug use likely had a role.

 

[I am not Sherlock H.]

After reading details of this horrendous action, IMO it is unlikely these four were in fear or had been stalked. More likely a case of four unaccountable ‘spoiled’ individuals that considered this their idea of a ‘joy ride’.

Has it clearly been noted how many firearms the four had? What type(s)? Who owned them?

Who owned the vehicle that the four individuals were in?

Did they have cell phones or other electronic devices? What do those reveal? Were they tampered with? Did they record their ‘activities’? SMH. MOO

 

[Rosydecember]

I agree that drugs most likely played a role and is where the paranoia came from about being stalked.