Utah
Utah homicides drop in 2022, but guns and domestic violence still dominate
Michele Feickert comforts Ryan Hooley’s granddaughter, Maci Abbott, 11, throughout a candlelight vigil in Spanish Fork on July 19, 2022. Hooley was killed July 8, 2022, in Spanish Fork. He was one among 78 Utah murder victims throughout 2022. (Ben B. Braun, Deseret Information)
Estimated learn time: 5-6 minutes
SALT LAKE CITY — After two consecutive years of a number of the highest murder numbers the state has ever seen, the variety of homicides in Utah took an enormous drop in 2022.
There have been 78 homicides in Utah final yr, based on information compiled by KSL.com, the bottom quantity in 4 years. That is in comparison with 95 in 2021, 103 in 2020, 80 in 2019 and 78 in 2018. The 2022 quantity might go up if a number of open and ongoing investigations are later decided to be homicides.
Murder is outlined because the killing of 1 individual by the hands of one other, whether or not it’s performed deliberately, on accident or in self-defense. Homicide is the authorized time period used for the illegal killing of one other individual. An individual who commits a murder might not essentially be charged with homicide. For instance, a deadly police taking pictures is taken into account a murder, however most occasions will not be decided by a county legal professional to rise to the extent of homicide.
Weapons as soon as once more accounted for two-thirds of deaths in 2022, with 51 victims being killed on account of gunfire, or greater than 65% of the state’s homicides.
13 individuals died throughout confrontations with police, 4 of them fatally shot in December alone. Throughout these 13 incidents, police reported being shot at by the suspect in six instances, and the suspect brandishing a weapon in one other 5 incidents. In a single incident, a person was shot and killed after stabbing a police Okay-9. One other police Okay-9 was killed in a separate shootout. In 2021, 12 individuals had been killed by police, based on KSL.com statistics.
It was additionally one other tragic yr for home violence in Utah. At the least 24 victims who had been killed by a companion, relative or roommate — roughly a 3rd of all murder victims within the state. That is up from 20 in 2021, KSL.com counted in its statistics.
Twenty-eight of 2022’s 78 victims had been beneath the age of 25 with the youngest being lower than 2 months outdated. Sixteen of these victims had been between the ages of 16 and 21. There have been additionally 18 individuals arrested for investigation of homicide in 2022 who had been between the ages of 16 and 21, based on KSL.com statistics. In some murder investigations, multiple individual was arrested.
Of these 28 younger victims, police say at the least seven of them had been killed in gang-related incidents or by members of a gang.
“It’s all the time a tragedy when children in our communities are victims of violent crimes. In 2022, our Metro Gang Unit noticed a rise in gang-related homicides with many suspects additionally being juveniles, which provides the variety of lives negatively impacted by gang violence,” stated Salt Lake County Sheriff Rosie Rivera.
A few of the violent incidents in 2022 that concerned juveniles and younger adults embrace:
- Tivani Lopati, 14, and Paul Tahi, 15, had been shot and killed a couple of block away from Hunter Excessive College throughout an altercation with one other pupil. One other 15-year-old boy was additionally shot and critically injured. A 14-year-old boy arrested and later pleaded responsible to 2 counts of manslaughter.
- Bryan Galicia-Rodriguez, 17, was shot and killed within the driveway of his dwelling after police say two teenagers with in depth juvenile information determined to observe him and carjack him at random. Nestor Del Valle, 17, after which 16-year-old Christian Rodriguez, of West Jordan, had been charged as adults with homicide.
- Gavin Hone, 16, of Lindon, was killed after police say a gaggle of teenagers robbed him throughout a drug deal over marijuana vape cartridges, then beat him. In the course of the incident, he fell from a transferring automobile and was run over. 5 boys, ages 16 and 17, had been arrested and charged in juvenile courtroom.
- Fayzan Ali, 18, Ayash Mohamed, 18, and Mohamed Mohamed, 20, all from Millcreek, had been attending a home social gathering in West Jordan when both a automotive, or a number of vehicles, drove by and pictures had been fired. Investigators consider everybody concerned within the taking pictures has gang ties and that the incident was a “focused” act associated to gang exercise.
Utah had its most homicides in Could with 12. Compared, the state started 2023 with 15 homicides in January, together with the tragic incident in Enoch the place seven members of the identical household had been murdered.
To remain in line with earlier years, KSL.com included instances of manslaughter in its yearly statistics, however didn’t embrace incidents that had been charged as vehicle murder. Nevertheless, if these had been included, a further 16 victims could be added to the checklist. A complete of 19 individuals had been killed in 2022 resulting from being concerned in a crash or hit by a automobile that was being operated in a reckless or negligent method, based on our statistics. Three of these victims had been beneath the age of 6, and three extra had been beneath 15.
Utah Freeway Patrol Assistant Superintendent Jeff Nigbur says the statistics are one other reminder of why the general public must make good choices whereas driving.
“Even when we’ve got one, that issues us. We wish zero (fatalities), that is our aim,” he stated, whereas calling the 2022 numbers “unhappy.”
“It is very very regarding,” he stated. “When individuals get behind the wheel, they should make good choices. You are basically in command of a 1-ton weapon. We have to make higher choices behind the wheel.”
Nigbur stated the 5 areas that the UHP focuses on annually are pace, intoxicated drivers, seat belt utilization, aggressive driving and autos with defective tools. These will proceed to be the primary areas of focus and enforcement in 2023, and areas by which Nigbur hopes the general public will do its half to make enhancements.