Group home employees lied about teen who escaped and was killed by police, warrants say

BLUFFDALE — The mother of an autistic 16-year-old boy who was shot and killed by police after stealing a U.S. Army van was initially told that her son went missing from a library in West Jordan prior to the shooting. But in a text message sent to managers of the care facility where Autumn Portwood's son had actually walked away from — after she "learned the story about the library was made up" — she stated, "You mean to tell me he was missing since the morning?!? There was no library?!?! MY SON IS DEAD!!!!! A simple 'firing' will not be justice for my son!," according to a search warrant affidavit. The warrant, unsealed Tuesday in 3rd District Court, says the Utah Attorney General's Office is continuing to investigate "allegations of patient abuse/neglect and providing false information to police" regarding the case of a 16-year-old, Malachi Portwood, who as fatally shot by police in Sandy. A similar search warrant was served in April 2024. “He loved more than anything firefighters and firetrucks,” said Autumn Portwood to KSL TV. According to Autumn Portwood, her son dreamed of becoming a firefighter, but he faced several health challenges, including autism and ADHD, as well as Oppositional Defiance Disorder. “Even with him at 16, you might as well say he was operating at a 10-year-old’s level,” said Larry Portwood, Malachi's dad.

The police chase

On Nov. 9, 2023, Malachi allegedly stole a U.S. Army van from a recruiting station at 814 E. 9400 South. An officer who was in his own personal vehicle saw what was happening and followed the van while calling 911. Near 12600 South and Bangerter Highway, South Jordan police attempted to stop the vehicle, but Malachi fled, and officers did not pursue, according to police. Police again spotted the van near 9400 South and 700 East. As the van approached Monroe Street, an officer got out of his car to prepare to deploy tire spikes. But as the vehicle was waiting in traffic to make a left turn, the officer called out to the driver at gunpoint to get out of the van, according to body camera video. Instead, Malachi made a U-turn and began driving into oncoming traffic. Moments later, he hit a motorcyclist, who suffered serious injuries. Malachi continued down Monroe Plaza, where he ran into a dead end and turned around at the business complex. As he drove back toward the oncoming officers, police say Malachi "veered" toward an officer who was now outside of his vehicle. That officer fired at least eight shots as the van drove by. The van then hit a police patrol car blocking its path moments later. Malachi was able to get out of the vehicle on his own and lie down on the ground, but he could be heard groaning in pain and saying he was "sorry." He died about an hour later. The police shooting is still under investigation by the Salt Lake County District Attorney's Office.

Timeline of Malachi's disappearance

Malachi had been placed in a residential group home in Bluffdale, Future Rising Agency LLC, the day before the shooting. He had a history of sneaking out of group homes. Because of that, his support plan by the state "had a number of security/safety recommendations for Future Rising to follow, which included having locks and alarms on all doors and windows and being supervised 24/7. The (plan) instructed Future Rising to call police, a guardian, and the support coordinator as soon as possible after elopement. It also states that staff should follow and try to find Malachi as soon as possible," according to a pair of search warrant affidavits served by the Utah Attorney General's Office over the past 10 months. “All of the employees got together to get their story straight before they even made the call to police to report him missing,” Autumn Portwood said. Investigators say that on Nov. 8, 2023 — the same day Malachi moved in — a support coordinator for the teen walked through the group home "and noticed the home did not have alarms or locks installed." The coordinator was told the alarms would be installed the next day, and she "reported telling the staff member at the time to not let Malachi out of their sight until the alarms and locks were installed," according to one affidavit.

But in the early morning hours of the next day, investigators say Malachi sneaked out of the group home, stole a vehicle, which "was found crashed and abandoned in Sandy," and then stole a second vehicle, the U.S. Army van, about 7:30 a.m. Malachi was first discovered missing by a woman who went to clean his room about 11 a.m. Another staff member who had arrived at the home about 9 a.m. was not aware at that point that he was missing, the affidavit states. When the group home's operations director was notified, the woman was first told to "hold on," and later told in a phone call by another associate "not do anything until she did her investigation," according to the warrant. Between 1 p.m. and 2 p.m., a meeting was held at the group home. One witness described it "as a 'blur' and that 'everyone was yelling at everyone,'" the affidavit states. Autumn Portwood said that staff at Future Rising called her around 2:40 p.m. to tell her that Malachi was missing. After the call, Autumn said she notified her family members, who started scouring through social media and news articles for information that might help them find Malachi.By 5 p.m., the woman who made the discovery was told "to call police and tell them Malachi had run away from the West Jordan Library. Subsequent investigation confirmed (the woman) first notified Bluffdale police that Malachi was missing on Nov. 9, 2023, around 5:35 p.m. (She) told Bluffdale police that Malachi went missing from the West Jordan Library around 2 p.m.," which was nearly 20 minutes after Malachi had already died, according to the affidavit. By the time, Autumn and Larry Portwood were informed of Malachi’s elopement from the home, he was already dead. “[Then] my brother had sent an article from KSL about a man being involved in an officer-involved shooting that morning. And I distinctly remember saying it couldn’t have been him because he didn’t go missing until 2 p.m. that day, but in reality, he was already dead,” Autumn Portwood said. “And then we found out the next day that Future Rising didn’t file a police report until 5 p.m. They didn’t even notify police.” Investigators in April also received screenshots of "text messages exchanged between Future Rising employees and associates on the date of the incident," including one that "instructed the group to 'make sure we have the story straight before we call 911,'" the affidavit alleges. The Utah Attorney General's Office also learned during the course of the investigation that one of the staff members who was working the morning Malachi disappeared had reported seeing the boy between 4:30 a.m. and 5 a.m. That employee "admitted falling asleep during the night … (and) explained he thought it was OK for him to sleep during the night as long as the client was sleeping," according to the affidavit. “I didn’t get to pray for him that day because they lied and they took that opportunity away from me,” Autumn Portwood said.

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