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PROVO — A Provo man who police say shot and killed his neighbor after coming across a violent assault won’t face criminal charges, the Utah County Attorney’s Office said Monday.
Adam Taylor, 22, fatally shot Jeremy Sorensen, 26, in front of their apartment complex, 260 E. 500 North, on June 3, according to police.
After reviewing the evidence — which included reports, interviews and recordings — prosecutors have decided not to file charges against the gunman.
“Admissible evidence would not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that laws were violated,” the county attorney’s office said in a statement.
Police said Taylor arrived home that night to find Sorensen engaged in a physical struggle with an 18-year-old woman in the front driveway. Sorensen “had been stomping on the head” of the woman and was “trying to get into” her purse, according to witnesses.
Taylor, who was Sorensen’s downstairs neighbor, got out of his car, pulled out his concealed carry gun, and yelled at Sorensen to “stop assaulting the female or he would shoot,” police wrote in an affidavit.
After “about 30 seconds” and “several commands to stop punching and kicking the (woman) in the head,” the woman got away from Sorensen and ran past Taylor, according to court documents. When Sorensen “started coming toward” Taylor, he told Sorensen “he would shoot,” the warrant states. Sorensen “continued to walk aggressively toward” Taylor, who fired two shots into Sorensen’s torso once Sorensen was “about 6-10 feet away” from him, police said.
Related:
Deadly Provo shooting: Friends, family puzzled over man's final moments
Police say a Utah man was shot and killed by a passerby as he fought with a woman in Provo.Officers said at the time of the investigation that Taylor was being cooperative. The woman was treated at a hospital for possible head injuries, according to police.
The allegations against Sorensen shocked his family and friends, who remembered him as a social, upbeat man who could also be “gentle” and “childlike.” One relative said Sorensen sometimes struggled to process things due to a brain injury he sustained early in life, but noted that he “would not have acted out violently if he was not provoked.”
According to Utah’s self-defense law, deadly force is justified if a person reasonably believes that it is necessary to prevent death or serious bodily injury to themself or another person as a result of imminent use of unlawful force, or to prevent the commission of a forcible felony.
“The loss of any life is a tragedy,” said Utah County Attorney David O. Leavitt in a statement Monday. “I express my appreciation to all involved in investigating and reviewing this matter, and express my sincerest sympathy to the Sorenson family for their loss.”
