In the community of Cedar City, Utah, the life of KayLee Dutton, a 17-year-old White female, was cut short on the night of January 17, 2025. Described by her family as a quick-witted spitfire with an adventurous soul, KayLee loved dirt bikes, bull riding, and the outdoors. She was a determined young woman who had graduated from high school a year early and bought her own truck. Her mother, Kimberlee, called KayLee her best friend, saying, "we grew up together." Her life, full of promise, ended in a sudden act of violence.
On that Friday evening, KayLee was out for a drive with her best friend in her small red pickup truck. Around 10:30 p.m., they noticed a dark-colored truck was following them. For several miles, the pursuing vehicle chased them, flashing its high beams. The chase ended near the intersection of Midvalley Road and 4300 West when the dark truck pulled alongside KayLee’s vehicle. A man inside fired approximately 12 rounds into her truck.
Struck by the gunfire, KayLee lost control, and her pickup veered off the road and crashed through a vinyl fence. She was rushed to Cedar City Hospital, where she was pronounced dead. Her 18-year-old friend survived with shrapnel injuries.
The investigation quickly led authorities to a townhome complex in Cedar City, where they located the suspect vehicle. Within a day, four roommates were taken into custody. Investigators learned the men had pursued the teens under the mistaken belief that they were being stalked. After seeing KayLee’s truck in their neighborhood, they chased it down. It was later determined that KayLee and her friend were in the area for reasons entirely unrelated to the suspects and had no connection to them.
The four men were charged in connection with the killing. Ethan Galloway, the man who fired the shots, and Michael Hess-Witucki, the driver of the pursuing truck, both pleaded guilty to murder and felony discharge of a firearm. In September 2025, a judge sentenced Galloway to 15 years to life in prison, plus consecutive firearm sentences that require him to serve at least 40 years before being eligible for parole. Hess-Witucki was sentenced to 15 years to life plus a consecutive firearm sentence, with parole eligibility after a minimum of 20 years.
A third man, Aldric Felipe, pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice and possession of a firearm by a restricted person; his prison sentence was suspended, and he was placed on probation. The final defendant, Matthew Sorber-Petrie, took his case to trial. Prosecutors argued that while Sorber-Petrie was not in the truck during the shooting, he had supplied the weapon and created the "stalker narrative" that led his roommates to act. In August 2026, an Iron County jury found him guilty of murder, obstruction of justice, and five counts of felony discharge of a firearm. All four men involved have been held accountable, closing the final chapter in the case.
