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WEST JORDAN — A knife was discovered near the body of the woman who was shot and killed last week after breaking into a West Jordan home, police said Monday.
But West Jordan police would not say what role the knife could have played, including whether the woman used the knife to threaten the homeowner before he shot her.
Makayla Yeaman, 23, was shot about 5:30 a.m. Friday inside a home at 6845 W. 7605 South after she had gained access to the house by fetching a garage door opener from a truck parked outside, according to investigators.
Yeaman had made it past the garage and further into the house when she was confronted and shot by the 26-year-old homeowner, police said last week. The man's identity has not been released.
The homeowner, who reported he heard the garage door opening and dogs barking, took a gun with him to investigate. He was interviewed by detectives and then released. Three other people had been sleeping in the house at the time.
In examining the scene, police discovered "a (folding) knife laying there on the ground near the deceased woman, and it was opened," West Jordan Police Sgt. Dan Roberts said Monday.
Roberts said he didn't know "whether she threatened (with) that or not" or whether the knife was hers. Asked for information about what the homeowner told investigators about that knife, Roberts declined to provide additional details.
Roberts said multiple shots were fired, but would not specify how many.
There currently isn't "any indication" that Yeaman and the homeowner knew each other, according to the sergeant. He said an exact motive for the woman intruding into the house was unknown.
Related:
Woman shot, killed after breaking into West Jordan home
A homeowner shot and killed a 23-year-old woman who broke into his West Jordan home at dawn Friday, police said."The burglary would indicate that she was going to commit some kind of a crime (including possibly) an assault or a theft or something like that. But I don't know what those elements were," Roberts said.
The investigation into whether the killing was justified by self-defense is still being reviewed, he said.
