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Harsher charges may be filed against woman accused of killing one homeless person, injuring five others while driving on a downtown Salt Lake City sidewalk

Courtroom testimony reveals Shutney Kyzer had used drugs just before the July 4 episode near the homeless shelter.<br>

(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Defense attorney Neil Webster is reflected on a table while sitting alongside his shackled client Shutney Kyzer during her preliminary hearing on Monday, Jan. 8, 2018, at the Matheson Courthouse. Kyzer is charged with allegedly driving a car onto the sidewalk in downtown Salt Lake City, killing one homeless person, 27-year-old Kendra Griffis and injuring five others on July 4, 2017.

(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Defense attorney Neil Webster is reflected on a table while sitting alongside his shackled client Shutney Kyzer during her preliminary hearing on Monday, Jan. 8, 2018, at the Matheson Courthouse. Kyzer is charged with allegedly driving a car onto the sidewalk in downtown Salt Lake City, killing one homeless person, 27-year-old Kendra Griffis and injuring five others on July 4, 2017.

Shutney Lee Kyzer was ordered to stand trial Monday in the death of a 27-year-old homeless woman who was struck by a car while standing on the sidewalk near Salt Lake City’s homeless shelter on the evening of July 4.

In 3rd District Court testimony, witnesses said the 37-year-old prison parolee had taken a car without permission and driven to Rio Grande Street to buy an illegal drug called spice.

Witnesses said Kyzer told them she smoked the drug inside a 1999 Mazda 626 with another woman minutes before running down six people, including Kendra Griffis, who died of blunt-force injuries.

Kyzer will be arraigned Feb. 2 on third-degree felony counts of leaving the scene of a fatal accident and unauthorized control of a vehicle, as well as driving on the sidewalk, an infraction.

She was not charged with automobile homicide because authorities have no physical evidence of drugs or alcohol in Kyzer’s blood stream. She had fled the scene and was not apprehended until the following day.

But on Monday, prosecutor Nathanael Swift told Judge Amber Mettler that the Salt Lake County District Attorney’s Office may file amended charges, potentially signaling an auto homicide count.

During the preliminary hearing, investigators showed a series of videos from security cameras located near the accident scene, 425 W. 200 South. The footage — from a nearby business, The Road Home shelter and a UTA bus — shows a car eastbound on 200 South jump the curb just west of 400 West. The vehicle plowed into a group of homeless people.

Video from a passing UTA bus also clearly shows a woman in a red shirt exiting the car, heading north on 400 West on foot.

Additionally, video from the TRAX platform at the Planetarium stop shows a woman in a red shirt on 400 West north of 200 South. That footage captures the woman’s face.

Salt Lake City police had issued this screen shot from TRAX platform video at the Planetarium stop, saying they were seeking Shutney Lee Kyzer in connection with a fatal auto-pedestrian incident outside the Road Home homeless shelter. (SLCPD photo)

On the witness stand, Salt Lake City Detective Justin Lancaster identified that person as Kyzer.

Austin Bracken, an agent for the Utah Department of Corrections, was among a team that apprehended Kyzer the following day. He quoted the defendant as saying, “I didn’t mean to do it,” and, “I don’t know what happened.”

Salt Lake City police Detective David Knaub said he questioned Kyzer briefly on July 5 at the Public Safety Building. He testified that Kyzer said she didn’t have permission to use the car of Anastasia Greuber and that the power steering wasn’t working properly.

Kyzer also told him she smoked spice just prior to the incident, Knaub said. He also said she told him she had taken Xanax the night before, on July 3.

Burned aluminum foil and a lighter were found inside the car on the driver’s side. Lancaster said the items are consistent with drug use.

Lee McCashland was one of the people hit by the 1999 Mazda at about 6 p.m. that evening. He suffered a fractured femur and spent several weeks in the hospital. He said he needed a walker for another three months to get around. His injury keeps him from running and makes it difficult to climb stairs, he said.

Kyzer had worked for Stephen Bolinder at the The Dog Show, a Salt Lake City grooming business. He testified that Kyzer was late for work on July 5 but called him shortly after noon to request her paycheck.

“She broke down crying and said she ran people over and thought some might be dead,” Bolinder said. “She said she had taken Xanex and blacked out.”

In April, Kyzer was paroled from the Utah State Prison, where she had been incarcerated in 2009 on burglary, kidnapping and robbery convictions, according to court records.