A small aircraft crashed into the front yard of a home in Utah‘s Roy on Wednesday afternoon, approximately 30 miles north of Salt Lake City. The Federal Aviation Administration reported that two individuals were aboard the twin-engine Piper PA-34 when it went down shortly before 4 pm.
Both occupants sustained minor injuries, and their identities have not been disclosed.
The crash was captured on home security footage, which showed the plane crashing into the front yard. Several concerned neighbours can be seen rushing to the scene to offer assistance. The incident caused damage to one home and nearby trees, but fortunately, no one on the ground was injured.

The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board are conducting an investigation to determine the cause of the crash. The NTSB said that a preliminary report will be available in approximately one month.
Anthony Baugh, a resident of the home where the plane crashed, was informed by his wife about the incident while she and their children were inside. Upon viewing the security camera footage on his phone, Baugh said, “I had seen the video footage of the plane kind of sliding towards my house.”
He immediately rushed home, concerned for his family’s safety.
According to Baugh, his wife offered water to the two victims, described as a “gentleman” and a “young lady,” but they declined, likely due to shock.
He mentioned that the man had a cut on or above his eye. Baugh expressed gratitude that his family was unharmed, especially considering that they had lost family members in a plane crash a few years prior.
“My eldest one, he was a little shook up a little bit, we had some family members that passed away in a plane crash a few years ago, so it was a little nerve wracking,” he said. “I don’t know how many people out there are religious, but a lot of people here were blessed,” Baugh added.

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Utah officials denied clemency Friday to a man who is set to be executed for the stabbing death of his girlfriend’s mother in 1998.

The decision regarding the fate of Taberon Dave Honie, who is scheduled to die by lethal injection Aug. 8, was announced in a one-paragraph notice from Scott Stephenson, chair of the Utah Board of Pardons and Parole.

“After carefully reviewing all submitted information and considering all arguments from the parties, the Board does not find sufficient cause to commute Mr. Honie’s death sentence,” Stephenson wrote.

During a two-day commutation hearing this week, Honie asked the parole board to commute his sentence to life in prison, saying he would never have killed 49-year-old Claudia Benn after a day of heavy drinking and drug use had he been in his “right mind.”

Honie said he wanted to continue to live to be a support for his mother and his daughter. His attorneys did not immediately respond to telephone and email messages seeking comment on the clemency denial.

Benn’s family urged the parole board to allow him to be executed, saying they have been devastated by their loss.

They described Benn as a pillar in their family and southwestern Utah community — a tribal council member, substance abuse counselor and caregiver for her children and grandchildren.

Honie, who had a volatile relationship with Benn’s daughter, broke into the victim’s house in Cedar City, the tribal headquarters of the Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah, on July 9, 1998.

He repeatedly slashed her throat and then stabbed her. Benn’s grandchildren, including Honie’s 2-year-old daughter, were in the house at the time.

“The way he killed her, that’s just sick. … An eye for an eye, as God says it,” Sarah China Azule, Benn’s niece, said during testimony.

Honie was convicted in 1999 of aggravated murder. The judge who sentenced him to death found that Honie had sexually abused one of the children, one of the aggravating factors used to reach that decision.

During the hearing, Honie’s attorneys presented testimony describing his traumatic childhood growing up on the Hopi Indian Reservation in Arizona.

His parents, like many Native Americans, had been put into into government boarding schools that were often abusive, and the defense argued that they did not learn parenting skills, were heavy drinkers and neglected Honie, who began drinking and using drugs including cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine by the time he was a teenager.

But the state told the board that Honie created more trauma by killing Benn.

“Imagine the intergenerational traumas from Honie’s horrific acts trickling down through time,” Assistant Solicitor General Daniel Boyer said.

Utah has not had an execution since Ronnie Lee Gardner was put to death by firing squad in 2010.

Honie is one of six people awaiting execution in the state. The death sentence for a seventh person, Douglas Lovell, who killed a woman to keep her from testifying against him in a rape case, was overturned Thursday by the Utah Supreme Court. He will be resentenced.

After decades of failed appeals, Honie’s execution warrant was signed in June despite defense objections to the planned combination of the sedative ketamine, the anesthetic fentanyl and potassium chloride to stop his heart. When Honie’s attorneys sued, corrections officials agreed to switch to pentobarbital but the case is still pending.

One of his lawyers said previously that the defense was reviewing information regarding the change and working to protect his constitutional rights.

“Serious uncertainty still remains about the state’s last-minute execution plan,” attorney Eric Zuckerman said.

Prison officials have agreed to let one of Honie’s lawyers have access to a phone while witnessing the execution in case an emergency motion needs filing, according to a Wednesday court order.

___

Slevin reported from Denver, and Brown from Billings, Montana.

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© 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — This week, we’ve seen record heat, flash flooding in parts of Southern Utah, and strong thunderstorms impact parts of the Wasatch Front. A drier air mass moves in from the southwest today, but there will still be enough lingering moisture for isolated thunderstorms.  As we close out the work week temperature-wise, we are seeing more seasonal temperatures as our ridge of high pressure breaks down and pulls southeast. Daytime highs will be in the mid-90s along the Wasatch Front with more triple-digit temperatures for St. George.

With isolated storms possible, we have a ‘Marginal’ risk of isolated severe thunderstorms for parts of the West Desert Utah, including portions of the Wasatch Front this evening where the primary threat will be strong wind gusts. Severe thunderstorms can bring an abundance of lightning,  wind gusts of 58+ mph, and large hail. St. George only has a slight chance of a storm today, and our flash flood risk is still possible for many locations including our National Parks except Zion and near Lake Powell.

Another weak disturbance brushing by on Saturday will bring a few showers and thunderstorms to northern Utah. Drier air in the south should end the storms, but strong southwesterly winds could create critical fire weather conditions. A fire weather watch has been issued for Saturday afternoon for portions of Central and Southern Utah due to the potential of gusty winds to 35 mph and low relative humidity.

By Saturday, drier air moving in from the southwest will push moisture out of the state Saturday evening. Sunday will be dry across the region with seasonal highs and lighter winds. The ridge will rebuild over the area early next week with a rebound to above-normal temperatures through midweek. Moisture will also return to areas of southern Utah by midweek, increasing chances of afternoon thunderstorms.

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