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Murder

'His intention was to kill everyone in the home except himself': Utah boy, 16, charged with killing mother, 3 siblings

Kristin Lam
USA TODAY

A 16-year-old was charged Wednesday with killing  his mother and three siblings in a chilling case that appears to be Utah's largest mass shooting in 13 years, prosecutors said.

Colin Jeffery "CJ" Haynie will be tried as an adult and could face up to life in prison in the quadruple homicide, Tooele County Attorney Scott Broadhead said. Haynie has refused to speak with authorities and investigators have yet to determine a motive, he said.

Prosecutors charged Haynie with 10 felonies, including aggravated murder and discharge of a firearm, for allegedly killing his family members on Friday after they returned to their home in Grantsville, about 35 miles west of Salt Lake City.

The teenager's father, Colin Haynie, 52, survived a gunshot wound and has met with investigators. He arrived home around 6 p.m. Friday, about five hours after the boy allegedly shot his mother and one sister and struggled to disarm his son after being shot in the leg, Broadhead said. 

Photographs of Consuelo Alejandra Haynie, 52, right, and three of her children are displayed at a candlelight vigil for the Haynie family at City Park in Grantsville, Utah, on Monday night.

"The defendant's father was able to get the handgun away from him," Broadhead said. "He said that the defendant told him that his mother and his other siblings were dead and that his intention was to kill everyone in the home except himself."

Grantsville Police identified the victims as Consuelo Alejandra Haynie, 52; her daughters Alexis, 15, and Milan, 14; and son Matthew, 14. Haynie allegedly killed Alexis and Matthew after they arrived home later in the afternoon.

The shooting is still under investigation, Broadhead said, as police are processing and collecting evidence. 

'Hug your loved ones tight':Teen arrested after 4 killed in Utah home

Neighbor Laurie Bahe said she knew the family for 10 years, describing them as happy and outgoing.

“I pray for the family that it happened to and the people that survived that are going to have a really difficult time with it,” Bahe told KSL.com. “They were a really, really nice family. It’s just shocking that it happened.”

Contributing: John Bacon, USA TODAY; The Associated Press

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