Grim tally: A look at each of Utah’s homicide victims of 2020
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1. OGDEN, Jan. 9
Isaac Ignacio Gonzalez, 21, of North Ogden, was shot in a church parking lot, 236 Porter Ave., and later died from his injuries at a local hospital. A second man was also shot. Police believe the shootings were drug related. Caleb Michael Skipps, 19, of Pleasant View, is charged with aggravated murder.
Alleged motive: Drugs
2. SALT LAKE CITY, Jan. 10 The body of
John H. Peel, 74, was found in his burning home, 717 E. Logan Ave. After putting out the fire, investigators discovered Peel had also suffered multiple stab wounds. Maxwell Wolcott, 28, of Murray Peel’s grandson is changed with aggravated murder and then setting the fire to try to cover up the crime.
One of Utah’s worst shootings occurred in January in Grantsville.
On the evening of Jan. 17, 2020 around 7:00 p.m., Grantsville police responded to a 911 call at 93 S. Eastmoor Drive in Grantsville.
Upon entering the residence, police found four deceased victims. Police cleared the home and secured it until the Utah Bureau of Forensic Services arrived to investigate the crime scene.
A third party, who went to visit the house unaware of the incident, drove the suspect, identified as Colin Jeffery, CJ, Haynie, 16, and a fifth victim, identified as Colin Haynie, 50, who is CJ Haynie’s father, to Mountain West Medical Center. The third party is also reported to have called 911 on the way to the hospital.
Top Utah news stories of 2020: A year like no other Dec 26, 2020, 10:00pm MST
Juliet Tuineau, Ray Tuineau’s widow, pours a bucket of soil on her husband’s coffin during a burial service at Valley View Memorial Park in West Valley City on Saturday, Aug. 22, 2020. Ray Tuineau was one of the more than 380 Utahns who died because of COVID-19. |
Yukai Peng, Deseret News
The pandemic.
The nearly yearlong ravages of the COVID-19 virus left little for Deseret News editors to debate when they rallied for their annual assessment of the year’s most important news stories.
But even though the COVID-19 public health crisis and its widespread impacts occupied an outsized portion of the 2020 news cycle, a pair of natural disasters, Utah’s role in a nationwide reckoning on racial justice issues, tragic crimes, an unusual election and the opening of a stunning, $4 billion airport project all made headlines in a year that’s been like no other.