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KEARNS — Unified police have arrested a man accused in a shooting that injured a 6-year-old girl who was in her bed in Kearns. Police say the girl missed being seriously injured or killed by a stray bullet by mere inches.
Timothy Roy Begay, 18, was booked into the Salt Lake County Jail for investigation of felony discharge of a firearm.
Just after midnight on Aug. 21, 2020, Unified police were called to 5277 W. Westlope Drive (5400 South) on a report of a 6-year-old who had been shot in the foot.
A girl told police she had come to the Kearns neighborhood to fight another girl. When the fight was over, the second girl began breaking the windows of the car that the first girl arrived in, according to a police booking affidavit.
"The suspect vehicle attempted to leave when a male who was in the vehicle started shooting," the affidavit states.
The adult sister of the 6-year-old girl said she heard three to four shots. One of the bullets, she said, hit the child in the foot.
Unified police said the bullet went through the child's headboard, her pillow, and traveled the length of her body until it grazed her foot.
"The said bullet only caused some bruising to the 6-year-old girl. The said bullet caused damage to the 6-year-old girl's house as well," the affidavit says.
"We're awfully damn lucky we're not investigating the death of a 6-year-old," Unified Police Lt. Manfred Lassig said at the time.
Begay was later arrested by Sandy police who were investigating another case. Begay was in possession of a stolen handgun at the time of his arrest, according to the affidavit. Police say the gun was tested and determined to be the same one used in the Kearns shooting.
