An innocent teenage girl was gunned down in her car as two strung-out drug users chased after her, believing she was ‘stalking them’.
KayLee Dutton, 17, died on a lonely stretch of road near Cedar City, Utah, when Ethan Galloway, 23, fired 12 times into her car late on Friday night.
The teenager 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 firearm crimes.
Iron County Sheriff Ken Carpenter said the pair admitted their roles in KayLee’s death and Galloway wrote a letter to her family explaining his actions.
‘Both suspects admitted that their actions had resulted in serious bodily injury and death of the victim,’ an arrest affidavit read.
‘Their justification for chasing the victim’s vehicle was they believed they had previously observed the victim’s vehicle in their neighborhood and presumed the occupants of the victim’s vehicle were (stalking) them.
‘At the conclusion of the interview, Ethan wrote a letter of apology to the parents of the victim, describing the reasoning why he chased the victim’s vehicle and shot the victim-driver.’

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 pulled 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 bad for you. I need you so bad right now’
Galloway and Hess-Witucki saw KayLee’s car at their townhome block and chased after it in a black 2018 Chevrolet Silverado, flashing the car’s high beam headlights.
KayLee and her 18-year-old friend saw the pickup truck pursuing them and drove almost six miles north and then west out of town.
Hess-Witucki pulled alongside 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 10.32pm. Dispatch audio showed first responders arrived at 10.51pm.
A local SWAT team arrested Galloway and Hess-Witucki outside the townhome about 5.45pm on Saturday.
Matthew Sorber-Petrie, 22, and Aldric Felipe, 21, were arrested hours later on obstruction, firearm, and drug crimes.
Sorber-Petri admitted to giving Galloway the gun, knowing it would be used to confront the supposed ‘stalker’, and Felipe stayed home but knew of the plan and what happened during the shooting.
They were also aware that Hess-Witucki removed the shell casing from the car and stored them in a container to be disposed of.

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

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

Matthew Sorber-Petrie, 22, (pictured) admitted to giving Galloway the gun, knowing it would be used to confront the supposed ‘stalker’
‘Matthew Petri has bought 3 or 4 guns from the shop. Super strange kid, really skinny. I mean like deathly skinny,’ a local pawnshop worker wrote online.
‘I literally would say I don’t know how he even handles firearms. No weight to him. Always passed the background check without any issues.’
Another former resident added that she used to work with Sorber-Petri and he was ‘creepy’.
‘We worked at a treatment facility together with teenage boys and he used to go into details about his sexual encounters with women with these troubled boys,’ she wrote.
‘I do believe after I reported those incidents that he was fired from his position.’
Police found magic mushroom vapes, marijuana vapes, and other drug paraphernalia at the home during a search, prompting the drug charges.
Detectives identified the accused based on a description of the car by the surviving teenager, and used surveillance footage to place it at the scene.
Officers also found the gun and ammunition that matched those used to kill KayLee.
‘Our hearts go out to the families of these two young ladies. They weren’t doing anything wrong,’ Sheriff Carpenter said.
‘They were just being teenagers having fun, and someone violently attacked them and ended their life for no apparent reason at this point.’

Galloway wrote a letter of apology to the parents of the victim, describing the reasoning why he chased the victim’s vehicle and shot the victim-driver


A local SWAT team arrested Galloway (left) and Hess-Witucki (right) outside their townhome about 5.45pm on Saturday

Hess-Witucki being taken into custody by police
KayLee’s mother Kimberlee Dutton said the Parowan High School student’s death would leave a void in their lives.
‘I never imagined that I would be burying 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’ll never understand why this happened. I hope that justice will be served for my sweet girl.’
Dutton posted a photo online of herself and KayLee at her wedding in October, writing ‘My heart just hurts so bad for you. I need you so bad right now.’
Galloway and Hess-Witucki were charged with second-degree murder, 12 counts of felony discharging of 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.