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A 52-year-old man was charged with first-degree felony murder Tuesday for the fatal shooting last week of a woman outside his Sandy home.
Larry Kent Graff allegedly admitted to police soon after they arrived that he had shot 26-year-old Candice Christina Melo, who had been living at Graff's home for about a week prior to the fatal episode on Thursday morning.
"Yeah, I did it, I shot her," Graff told a police officer at the scene, according to charging documents filed in 3rd District Court.
Graff was also charged with first-degree felony attempted murder for allegedly shooting at, but missing, Michael Grimsley, a friend of Melo's who had spent the night at the home, according to police.
An initial court appearance has been set for Dec. 30.
Graff remained Tuesday at the Salt Lake County jail. Bail has been set at $1.5 million.
Police Sgt. Dean Carriger has that said 911 calls reporting gunfire came in at 7:10 a.m. Thursday. When officers arrived at the scene, the driveway of a home in the 300 East block of Gary Avenue (9400 South), they initially thought — and reported — that Melo was dead.
Soon after, however, Melo was discovered to have a weak pulse and she was rushed to Intermountain Medical Center in neighboring Murray in "extremely critical" condition, with gunshot wounds in the head, lower back and thigh.
She died at 4:08 p.m., Carriger said.
Graff was standing about 15 feet from the victim's body when police arrived.
A witness who lives across the street told police he saw the front door "fly open," and three people ran out, followed by Graff.
The witness said Graff stopped in the middle of the driveway and fired five to six shots at two of the people, then turned and fired a shot at Grimsley, who was standing near the front door of the home, according to charging documents.
Grimsley later told police there had been an argument in the home and that Graff had chased them from the house as he shot at them, according to a police news release.
Grimsley said Graff fired multiple times at Melo while she was running toward the street, according to charging documents. Grimsley told police he watched Melo fall to the ground, and that he was yelling at Graff to stop shooting when Graff pointed the gun at him and fired one shot, according to charging documents. Grimsley was not hit.
"Graff told detectives ... that he intentionally fired his weapon at Ms. Melo and Mr. Grimsley as they ran from the home," according to a jail probable cause statement.
Graff also told detectives that he "didn't feel threatened" and "just wanted them to leave the house," according to the probable cause statement.
Graff's prior criminal record consists of a handful of traffic tickets, according to a search of Utah court records.
Carriger said Melo had moved into the home about a week earlier.