Man suspected of DUI after fatal Lake Powell boat crash


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KANAB — A boat driver at Lake Powell was arrested Friday after the boat hit a rock and ejected an 18-year-old passenger who died.

Triston Brady Harrison, 21, was arrested for investigation of DUI with serious bodily injury, automobile homicide and failure to maintain proper lookout, according to an affidavit filed in Kanab's 6th District Court.

On Friday, police said Harrison was driving the boat while intoxicated when the accident occurred. After hitting the rock, the boat became beached, causing the passenger to fly out of the boat and hit the shore, the affidavit states.

Friends identified the woman who died as Jayla Hiatt, of Spanish Fork.

Sam Johnson, Hiatt's best friend, said, "She was just friends with everyone she met."

Hiatt had just graduated from high school in May. She worked with Johnson at Glade's Drive Inn in Spanish Fork. At the restaurant, Hiatt's friends decided to donate their tips to her family.

Police said Harrison also failed to keep a safe following distance from another boat that was towing a tube. He was on the wrong side of traffic buoys, putting people "under unnecessary risk," according to court documents.

When authorities talked to him, an officer "could smell the strong odor of alcoholic beverages" from him and "observed his eyes to be glossy and bloodshot," the affidavit states.

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Ashley Imlay is an evening news manager for KSL.com. A lifelong Utahn, Ashley has also worked as a reporter for the Deseret News and is a graduate of Dixie State University.

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