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Two killers chase girl, 17, for six miles before shooting her 12 times over a deranged misunderstanding

by Abella
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An innocent teenage girl was shot in her car when two tense drug users chased her, believing she was 'stalking' them.

KayLee Dutton, 17, died on a lonely stretch of road near Cedar City, Utah, when Ethan Galloway, 23, shot her car 12 times late Friday night.

The teen was hit at least once by a .223 caliber bullet and crashed her red pickup truck into a fence. She was dead on arrival at Cedar City Hospital.

Galloway and Michael Edward Hess-Witucki, 23, who was driving the car, were both charged with second-degree murder, along with drug and gun crimes.

Iron County Sheriff Ken Carpenter said the couple admitted their role in KayLee's death and that Galloway wrote a letter to her family explaining his actions.

“Both suspects admitted that their actions resulted in serious bodily injury and death of the victim,” an arrest affidavit said.

“Their justification for pursuing the victim's vehicle was that they believed they had previously observed the victim's vehicle in their neighborhood and assumed the occupants of the victim's vehicle were (stalking) them.

“At the end of the interview, Ethan wrote a letter of apology to the victim's parents, describing the reason why he chased the victim's vehicle and shot the victim's driver.”

Two killers chase girl, 17, for six miles before shooting her 12 times over a deranged misunderstanding

KayLee Dutton, 17, died on a lonely stretch of road near Cedar City, Utah, when her car was sprayed with 12 bullets as her killers drove alongside her

KayLee's mother Kimberlee Dutton posted a photo online of herself and KayLee at her wedding in October, writing, “My heart just hurts so much for you. I need you so bad right now.”

KayLee's mother Kimberlee Dutton posted a photo online of herself and KayLee at her wedding in October, writing, “My heart just hurts so much for you. I need you so bad right now

Galloway and Hess-Witucki spotted KayLee's car on their block and chased it in a black 2018 Chevrolet Silverado, the car's high beams flashing.

KayLee and her 18-year-old friend saw the pickup following them and drove nearly six miles north and then west out of town.

Hess-Witucki pulled up next to them just before the intersection of Midvalley Road and 4300 W and Galloway sprayed the car with bullets.

KayLee's friend survived with only a leg injury and called 911 at 10:32 p.m. The audio of the dispatch showed that first responders arrived at 10:51 p.m.

A local SWAT team arrested Galloway and Hess-Witucki outside City Hall on Saturday around 5:45 p.m.

Matthew Sorber-Petrie, 22, and Aldric Felipe, 21, were arrested hours later for obstruction, firearms and drug offences.

Sorber-Petri admitted to giving Galloway the gun, knowing it would be used to confront the alleged “stalker,” and Felipe stayed home but knew about the plan and what happened during the shooting.

They were also aware that Hess-Witucki had removed the shell casings from the car and stored them in a container for disposal.

Ethan Galloway, 23, shot her car 12 times, hitting her at least once

Ethan Galloway, 23, shot her car 12 times, hitting her at least once

Michael Edward Hess-Witucki, 23, who was driving the car, was also charged with second-degree murder

Michael Edward Hess-Witucki, 23, who was driving the car, was also charged with second-degree murder

KayLee was hit at least once by a .223-caliber bullet and crashed her red pickup truck (pictured) into a fence. She was dead on arrival at Cedar City Hospital

KayLee was hit at least once by a .223 caliber bullet and crashed her red pickup truck (pictured) into a fence. She was dead on arrival at Cedar City Hospital

Matthew Sorber-Petrie, 22, (pictured) admitted giving Galloway the gun knowing it would be used to confront the alleged 'stalker'

Matthew Sorber-Petrie, 22, (pictured) admitted giving Galloway the gun knowing it would be used to confront the alleged 'stalker'

“Matthew Petri bought 3 or 4 guns from the store. Super strange child, very skinny. I mean dead skinny,” a local pawn shop employee wrote online.

“I would literally say I don't even know how he handles firearms. No weight for him. Always passed the background check without any problems.'

Another former resident added that she worked with Sorber-Petri and that he was “creepy.”

“We worked with teenage boys at a treatment center and he often went into detail about his sexual encounters with women with these troubled boys,” she wrote.

“I truly believe that after I reported those incidents, he was dismissed from his position.”

Police found mushroom fumes, marijuana fumes and other drug paraphernalia in the home during a search, prompting the drug charges.

Detectives identified the suspect based on a description of the car by the surviving teen and used surveillance footage to place it at the scene.

Officers also found the gun and ammunition that matched the one used to kill KayLee.

“Our thoughts go out to the families of these two young ladies. They did nothing wrong,” Sheriff Carpenter said.

“They were just teenagers having fun, and someone violently attacked them and took their lives right now for no apparent reason.”

Galloway wrote a letter of apology to the victim's parents, describing the reason he chased the victim's vehicle and shot the victim's driver.

Galloway wrote a letter of apology to the victim's parents, describing the reason he chased the victim's vehicle and shot the victim's driver.

A local SWAT team arrested Galloway outside his home the day after the shooting

Hess-Witucki was arrested during the same raid

A local SWAT team arrested Galloway (left) and Hess-Witucki (right) outside their townhome Saturday around 5:45 p.m.

Hess-Witucki is taken into police custody

Hess-Witucki is taken into police custody

KayLee's mother Kimberlee Dutton said the Parowan High School student's death would leave a void in their lives.

'I never thought I would bury my daughter so soon. KayLee was the light of our lives,” she said in a statement.

'She had a future ahead of her, and we will never understand why this happened. I hope justice will be served for my sweet girl.”

Dutton posted a photo online of herself and KayLee at her October wedding, writing, “My heart just hurts so much for you. I need you so bad right now.”

Galloway and Hess-Witucki were charged with second-degree murder, 12 counts of discharging a firearm causing serious injury, obstruction of justice, drug possession and possession of a firearm by a restricted person.

Sorber-Petri and Felipe were charged with obstruction of justice, drug possession and possession of a firearm by a restricted person.

They are all behind bars in the Iron County Jail without bail.

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