A Utah man has admitted to the brutal murders of his mother and three teenage siblings in 2020 when he was 16 years old.
Colin “CJ” Haynie, now 19, formally pleaded guilty to four charges of aggravated murder on Tuesday for the deaths of his 52-year-old mother, Consuelo Alejandra Haynie; his brother Matthew Haynie, 15; and his two sisters, Alexis Haynie, 17, and Maylan Haynie, 12. He also pleaded guilty to one count of attempted aggravated murder for shooting and injuring his father, Colin Haynie.
On 17 January 2020, then-16-year-old CJ Haynie laid in wait over a five-hour period at his family home in Granstville, Utah – about 35 miles west of Salt Lake City – to methodically shoot and kill each of his family members as they returned home from school, according to Tooele County Attorney Scott Broadhead.
“This young man killed his mother, his three siblings, he tried to kill his father. These were brutal crimes .... neighbours and friends were shocked. It’s just been tough emotionally for many people,” Mr Broadhead told KUTV following Tuesday’s guilty plea.
“Because Mr Haynie was 16 years old at the time of the offense, the maximum penalty for each count is an indeterminate prison term of not less than 25 years and may be for life,” the attorney’s office added in a press release.
Probable cause documents laid out a timeline for the murders, which began at around 1pm with the execution-style shootings of CJ Haynie’s mother and his youngest sister, Maylan, who had just been picked up from school.
Prosecutors reported that the pair had suffered “multiple” gunshot wounds to the head, neck and upper body.
The next victims were CJ Haynie’s older sister and younger brother, Alexis and Matthew. The 17-year-old sister reportedly arrived home an hour after the first murders and was shot multiple times in the head. Fifteen-year-old Matthew arrived home at approximately 5.15pm and was killed with a single gunshot wound to the head.
An hour later, CJ Haynie’s father arrived home and was able to wrestle the gun from his son’s hands, but only after getting shot and wounded in the leg.
At this time, the CJ Haynie reportedly made his first confession to the earlier murders to his father, according to court documents.
“[The father] said that he told the defendant that the defendant’s mother would be sad if the defendant killed him,” court documents reportedly read. “He said the defendant told him that his mother and other siblings were already dead.”
After the gun was wrested from CJ Haynie’s hands, a family friend in the area stopped by the Grantsville home for an impromptu visit, unaware of what had just occurred, KSL reported.
Father Colin Haynie asked the friend to drive himself and his son to the hospital to be treated for their wounds. During the trip, CJ Haynie allegedly confessed again to killing his mother and siblings.
The family friend then called 911, with police meeting the group at the hospital.
A motive for the murders has never been revealed by the teen and he is currently being detained at a juvenile detention centre on a $4m bond.
Sentencing is scheduled for 7 December. In Utah, though aggravated murder typically carries the possibility of the death penalty, state prosecutors are unable to seek it for people convicted of crimes that happened when they were under 18 even if their cases are moved to adult court.
The surviving members of the family include the father and husband, Colin Haynie, and older brother, Danny Haynie.
