US man shoots his household, together with 5 kids, later kills himself after spouse sought divorce

By Associated Press: A Utah man fatally shot his 5 kids, his mother-in-law and his spouse after which killed himself two weeks after the lady had filed for divorce, in line with authorities and public information.

Police additionally revealed throughout a Thursday information convention that officers investigated the 42-year-old man and his household a “couple of years prior,” suggesting potential earlier issues contained in the family. Enoch Police Chief Jackson Ames didn’t elaborate.

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Investigators have been conscious of the divorce petition however didn’t know if it was the motivation behind the killings, Mayor Geoffrey Chesnut mentioned.

The killings rocked the small city of Enoch in southern Utah about midway between Salt Lake City and Las Vegas. It’s in one of many fastest-growing areas of the nation, and communities of recent properties on huge heaps are made up primarily of enormous households that belong, like most in Utah, to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, identified broadly because the Mormon church. Many residents work and do enterprise in close by Cedar City, a metropolis of about 35,000 that serves as a business hub for Enoch, which doesn’t have its personal downtown.

TREMENDOUS BLOW TO MANY FAMILIES

The deceased have been members of the religion and well-known on the town. Many residents served in church alongside members of the slain household or went to high school with the kids, metropolis officers mentioned.

“This is a tremendous blow to many families who have spent many nights with these individuals who are now gone,” Chesnut mentioned.

City Manager Rob Dotson mentioned individuals are “feeling loss, they’re feeling pain and they have a lot of questions.”

Community members gathered Thursday night to mourn and sing hymns in a personal vigil at a church up the road from the house the place the victims have been discovered yesterday.

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Officials mentioned they consider Michael Haight killed his spouse, 40-year-old Tausha Haight; his mother-in-law; and the couple’s 5 kids. Each appeared to have gunshot wounds.

The three women and two boys ranged in age from 4 to 17 and included 7-year-old twins, authorities mentioned. Tausha Haight’s mom, 78-year-old Gail Earl, was mentioned to have been staying with the household to assist throughout a tough time.

Court information present that Tausha Haight filed for divorce Dec. 21. Her lawyer mentioned Thursday that Haight had been served with the papers Dec. 27. The causes for the divorce have been unknown, partly as a result of Utah regulation retains particulars of divorce proceedings sealed from the general public.

Tausha Haight and different family members have been seen the night time earlier than the killings at a church group for younger girls, Chesnut mentioned. Police have been dispatched to the household’s dwelling Wednesday afternoon for a welfare examine after somebody reported that she had missed an appointment earlier within the week, metropolis officers mentioned.

FAMILY MASS KILLING COMMON TRAGEDY

Family mass killings have turn out to be a disturbingly widespread tragedy throughout the nation. In 2022 there have been 17 of them, in line with a database compiled by USA Today, The Associated Press and Northeastern University. Ten have been murder-suicides, and 14 have been shootings. The database defines a mass killing as 4 or extra folks slain, not together with the assailant.

James Park, who represented Tausha Haight within the divorce case, mentioned she had not expressed any concern that her husband would bodily damage her. Park declined to elaborate, citing the investigation into the killings. He mentioned he met with Tausha Haight solely twice, principally just lately on Tuesday, and he or she “was an incredibly nice lady.”

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The White House mentioned in an announcement that President Joe Biden and first girl Jill Biden have been mourning with the Enoch group. It known as for additional steps to cut back gun violence, now the main reason behind demise for kids within the U.S.

The dwelling the place the victims have been discovered was embellished with Christmas lights and positioned in a neighborhood of newly constructed single-family homes on a ridge overlooking Enoch. It has a view of homes with snow-covered roofs and mountains within the distance. Half the encircling block was cordoned off by police tape.

The Cedar City space, traditionally agricultural, is being remodeled by new subdivisions. Cattle and sheep line the freeway on the fringe of city, together with indicators that publicize “Custom New Homes” and recreation in southern Utah’s well-known nationwide parks.

DEEPLY RATTLED

Sharon Huntsman of Cedar City got here to the neighborhood with a bouquet of white flowers Thursday morning. She mentioned the deaths had deeply rattled Iron County and cried as she propped up the bouquet within the snow at a makeshift memorial the place neighbors left stuffed animals and flowers.

“It’s just one big community,” she mentioned. “We all have one heavenly father.”

Archives from an area newspaper seize moments in Michael Haight’s life starting with an image of him laughing as a child in an announcement marking his first birthday. He was within the Boy Scouts and went on a church mission in Brazil.

In 2003, Haight married Tausha Earl at a church temple. She was from Overton, Nevada, about two hours south of Cedar City, the place he grew up. As an grownup, Haight labored as an insurance coverage agent.

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Tausha Haight’s Facebook web page confirmed photos of the household trying glad in picturesque settings of Utah, and in entrance of a big statue of Jesus.

Jennie Earl, who’s Tausha’s sister-in-law and a member of the Utah State Board of Education, posted a photograph on Facebook of Tausha and her kids and wrote concerning the “stiff competition” to be their favourite aunt.

“I pray that Christ’s love will mend our broken hearts and fill us with forgiveness and peace,” Earl wrote. She declined to remark when reached by The Associated Press.

Community members who gathered at Enoch City Hall to hearken to Thursday’s information convention mentioned it was wrenching to have to inform their very own kids that their friends is probably not at college the subsequent day.

“We told them last night,” mentioned metropolis councilman Richard Jensen, a father of eight. “We gathered them round for a household prayer kind of factor. We instructed them a household on the town, everybody had been killed and once they present as much as college tomorrow it’s potential children shall be lacking.”

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Published On:

Jan 6, 2023