- A couple in Salt Lake City's Marmalade District alleges a pattern of harassment against LGBTQ+ residents.
- An example was an incident involving a neighbor who is charged with firing a pellet gun into Kyle Betit and Christian Castro's home.
- Salt Lake Police Sgt. Greg Wilkin said the incident appears to follow a pattern dating back to at least 2022.
SALT LAKE CITY — A Marmalade District couple said a recent incident involving a neighbor who is charged with firing a pellet gun into their home is part of a broader pattern of harassment targeting LGBTQ+ residents in the neighborhood.
Kyle Betit and Christian Castro said they had lived in their home for years without major problems until May 2, when they were hosting an annual Cinco de Mayo party. During the gathering, guests heard loud popping noises coming from outside, prompting concern.
"We go upstairs to see what's going on," Castro said, "and we can see the person who shot the window, just sitting there."
A projectile was shot through the window of an office space where Betit works from home. He said people were inside that space when it happened.
"I never anticipated that it might be a vulnerable position," he said.
According to Castro, some guests reported seeing a neighbor place what appeared to be a rifle into a bag. Police were called and later arrested a 40-year-old woman on suspicion of property damage, reckless endangerment, discharging a firearm and interfering with a peace officer.
Salt Lake City Police Sgt. Greg Wilkin said the weapon used was a pellet gun.
"I'm seeing that there's been a pattern where this individual has experienced some mental health issues," Wilkin said.
KSL is not naming the woman because of these circumstances.
Wilkin said the incident appears to follow a pattern of concerning behavior dating back to at least 2022, though he noted police cannot definitively say whether mental illness is a factor.
Neighbors describe a string of incidents over the past several years that they believe targeted LGBTQ+ residents. In 2022, anti-LGBTQ+ slurs were spray-painted on a garage. In another incident, a resident reported catching the same neighbor in the act of slashing a tire. In a separate case, three Play-Doh dolls with nooses around their necks were left on the doorstep of a home occupied by three men.
Heidi Middleton, Castro and Betit's former next-door neighbor, first learned about the incidents when KSL reported on them. She was interviewed in our story.
"It happened to be the neighbor whose backyard butts up against our backyard, at the time," Middleton said. "I was like, 'Oh, will she see it?"
Middleton said before the report and incidents, she was friendly with that neighbor, talking with her over the fence. Then, things changed.
"We stopped seeing her outside. She started avoiding us," she said.
In 2024, during the election season, Middleton said there was an incident with her neighbor over a political sign placed on a shared fence between their properties, visible only to her family.
"Within days of us putting up a Kamala Harris sign, she put up a Trump sign on our fence just for us," Middleton said. "Just a fence between us where nobody else in the city could see it."
Middleton said she respected her neighbor's right to display it, but later it was replaced with a version she found threatening, which read "Pride Goeth Before Destruction," with the word "Pride" in rainbow.
"Very clearly targeting our identity as a lesbian couple and choosing the word 'destruction' rather than go with 'before the fall' or other versions of that scripture really felt pretty scary to us," she said. "Scary enough that, and knowing her background, that we were worried that it could escalate in some way."
Middleton said concerns about ongoing harassment contributed to her family's decision to move out of the home.
"If we let her get away with this kind of behavior, who's to say it's not going to be something worse next time?" she said.
Middleton was at the party where the pellet gun was fired.
"It didn't hurt anybody, but it's so close to hurting somebody," she said.
Middleton, Betit and Castro said they're concerned, especially considering there's an elementary school nearby.
"I'm always kind of, like, looking around, you know, like, 'Am I going to be safe, get in my car or what's going to happen?'" Castro said. "It's strange to feel that fear in your own house, in your own neighborhood that's always been so safe and so peaceful here."
Wilkin said the department has options for handling cases where mental health may be a concern, including referrals to social workers or mental health court.
"Maybe it's getting them involved in the criminal justice system and they go the avenue through mental health court," he said. "Maybe, it's they end up on the TOPS program because they're suddenly a violent offender."
In this instance, he said officers determined an arrest was the appropriate response.
The case has been sent to the Salt Lake County District Attorney's Office. Castro and Betit said they hope prosecutors will consider filing a hate crime charge, citing what they describe as a pattern of behavior targeting LGBTQ+ neighbors.
Police have advised residents not to confront neighbors directly in similar situations but instead to contact law enforcement and gather evidence when possible.
