Colin Jeffrey Haynie: Teen pleads guilty to killing mom, 3 siblings over 5-hr period as each arrived home
GRANTSVILLE, UTAH: A man from Grantsville, Utah, pleaded guilty on Tuesday to killing his mother and three siblings when he was 16 years old in early 2020. Colin Jeffrey Haynie, who is now 19, was in the Tooele courtroom as his lawyer read on his behalf that he pleaded guilty to four counts of aggravated murder and one count of attempted aggravated murder. Haynie shot his 52-year-old mother Consuelo Alejandra Haynie and his three siblings -- Alexis, 17, Mathew, 15, and Maylan, 12.
Haynie also pleaded guilty to one count of attempted aggravated murder for shooting and injuring his father Colin Haynie. All five charges are first-degree felonies. Haynie answered in the affirmative when asked to confirm by the judge that he was waiving his right to a preliminary hearing while entering the guilty pleas. According to a press release from the Tooele County Attorney’s Office, as Haynie was 16 when he shot his family, the maximum penalty for each of the charges is “an indeterminate prison term of not less than 25 years and may be for life.”
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Prosecutors had alleged that Haynie stayed home from school on January 17, 2020, waiting for his family to come home. When his mother arrived that afternoon around 1 pm with his 12-year-old sister Maylan, the teen allegedly shot and killed them. Prosecutors reportedly said that both victims suffered multiple gunshot wounds to the head, neck, and upper body. Haynie did the same to his other siblings, Alexis, 15, and Mathew, 14, later that afternoon, according to a charging document.
The attempted aggravated murder charge stems from Haynie also shooting his father in the leg when he returned home the same evening. The elder Haynie was only wounded and the two struggled over the handgun until Haynie was reportedly able to hit his father in the head with a hard unknown object. A neighbor then called 911 and took the father and son to the hospital, Tooele County Attorney Scott Broadhead said when he announced the charges against Haynie. The teen was arrested at the hospital, he said.
“The father said that he told the defendant that the defendant’s mother would be sad if the defendant killed him,” court documents reportedly stated. “He said the defendant told him that his mother and other siblings were already dead.” The father was then able to wrestle the handgun away from his son, and a family friend reportedly drove the two of them to the hospital for medical treatment.
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KSL reported that the family friend just “happened to stop by the house to drop something off, unaware of the tragic events that had taken place” when Haynie’s father asked the friend to drive them to the hospital. During the drive to the hospital, Haynie reportedly told the family friend that he’d just killed his family members. The friend called 911 from the car and police arrested Haynie at the hospital. The teen has reportedly remained uncooperative since his incarceration. While he reportedly told investigators that he sought to kill everyone in the house except himself, he has steadfastly refused to disclose his motive for the massacre. Haynie, who is being held in a juvenile detention center on a $4 million bond, is currently scheduled to appear for his sentencing hearing on December 7, 2022.