Man who supplied gun found guilty of murder in Cedar City jury trial

CEDAR CITY — A third man has been convicted for the killing of an 18-year-old woman in an Iron County shooting after a jury found he supplied a gun.

On Thursday, jurors found Matthew Sorber-Petrie, 24, guilty of murder and five counts of felony discharge of a firearm causing injury, first-degree felonies, and obstruction of justice, a second-degree felony. Jurors found him not guilty of two additional counts of felony discharge of a firearm, a first-degree felony.

They deliberated for about two and a half hours before reaching their verdict, prosecutors said.

Sorber-Petrie pleaded guilty immediately before trial to two counts of possession of a controlled substance, one a class A misdemeanor and the other a class B misdemeanor. Three other charges for possession of a firearm as a restricted person, a third-degree felony, were dismissed by prosecutors who cited a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling.

Case history

Charging documents say on Jan. 17, 2025, KayLee Dutton and her 18-year-old friend were in a red truck, driving along a stretch of road northwest of Cedar City, and were followed by a black truck. At about 10:42 p.m., the black truck pulled up alongside the teens, and someone inside started firing.

Twelve shots were fired from the black truck, according to a police booking affidavit filed in support of the four men's arrests. The vehicle then fled the scene.

The driver of the red truck was hit and lost control, leading the truck to crash through a fence near the intersection of Midvalley Road and 4300 West, where a memorial to her now sits. Dutton died from multiple gunshot wounds.

Carpenter said the passenger was injured by shrapnel, but was able to call 911.

Four individuals were charged in relation to the killing. Michael Hess-Witacki and Ethan Andrew Galloway told investigators they thought Dutton and her passenger were "stalking" them after seeing the truck at their townhome complex, according to a police booking affidavit.

According to the police booking affidavit, Hess-Witucki owned the black truck and admitted he was the driver. Search warrants of the vehicle and the home where it was parked led to finding several firearms matching the caliber used in the shooting, and ammunition with similar shell casings.

The Iron County Attorney's Office said in a statement after the verdict that it is grateful for the jurors and that their verdict "represents an important measure of justice and accountability for the senseless loss of a young life."

"At the center of this case is Kaylee. She was 17 years old, with a lifetime still ahead of her. No verdict can bring Kaylee back or undo the devastating loss suffered by her family and those who loved her. We hope, however, that the verdict provides them with some measure of justice and helps bring this chapter of a long and painful process toward a close. Our thoughts remain first and foremost with Kaylee Dutton and the people who loved her," the statement said.

According to charging documents, Sorber-Petrie admitted to police he allowed two others who pleaded guilty to murder to take his firearm knowing they were planning to use it. Initially, he was not charged with murder or felony discharge of a firearm, but those charges were added later.

Fifth District Judge Meb Anderson took additional time to consider whether to order him to stand trial for the first-degree felonies, noting that a guilty verdict would require accomplice liability, but he found enough evidence. To be found guilty under accomplice liability, the jury would need to find he helped, solicited or encouraged the killing and acted with the mental state required to commit the killing.

Sorber-Petrie is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 29.

Prior convictions and sentences

Galloway, 25, was sentenced on Sept. 5, 2025, to 15 years to life in prison for murder and five terms of five years to life in prison for five counts of felony discharge of a firearm, first-degree felonies, after pleading guilty three months earlier.

Anderson ordered each of the sentences to run consecutively, meaning he will spend at least 40 years in custody.

As part of a plea deal, seven additional counts of felony discharge of a firearm, a first-degree felony, were dismissed along with obstruction of justice, a second-degree felony, use of a firearm as a restricted person, a third-degree felony, and possession or use of a controlled substance, a class B misdemeanor.

Michael Hess-Witucki, 24, was sentenced at the same hearing to 15 years to life in prison for murder and five years to life in prison for felony discharge of a firearm causing serious injury, first-degree felonies. The judge ordered his sentences to run consecutively, so he will spend at least 20 years in prison.

He pleaded guilty on April 15, 2025, as part of a plea deal that dismissed 11 counts of felony discharge of a firearm, a first-degree felony; obstruction of justice, a second-degree felony; possession or use of a firearm as a restricted person, a third-degree felony; and possession or use of a controlled substance, a class B misdemeanor.

Both were ordered to help repay $22,000 to the Utah Office for Victims of Crime for money it spent supporting Dutton's family, and Sorber-Petrie may be ordered to help as well.

Aldric Felipe, 22, pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice, a second-degree felony, and possession or use of a firearm as a restricted person, a third-degree felony, related to the same killing, as part of a plea deal that dismissed a misdemeanor count for possession of a controlled substance.

Anderson sentenced him to one to 15 years in prison for the second-degree felony and zero to five years for the third-degree felony, but suspended those terms and ordered him to spend three years on probation on May 27, 2025. His probation was revoked and restarted in April after he admitted he had not followed multiple conditions.

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