Paighten Harkins

Reporter

Paighten covers breaking news and the criminal justice system for the Salt Lake Tribune. Before starting at the Tribune in October 2017, she lived and worked in Oklahoma. She has a dog named Major, who's objectively very cute.

(Rick Bowmer | AP) Protesters are tackled by Cottonwood Heights police officers during a march Sunday, Aug. 2, 2020, in Cottonwood Heights, Utah. The protest was a "March for Justice" focused largely around Zane James, who was fatally shot by police in Cottonwood Heights in 2018.

Cottonwood Heights officials schemed to break up 2020 police protest, lawsuit alleges

By Paighten Harkins | August 5, 2022, 12:00 p.m.

(Chris Samuels | The Salt Lake Tribune) Salt Lake City Police Chief Mike Brown speaks during a news conference announcing the opening of a police substation at Smith's Ballpark, Thursday, Aug. 4, 2022.

New Ballpark police substation will help curb crime, officials say. Some residents remain skeptical.

By Paighten Harkins | August 4, 2022, 8:07 p.m.

(Leah Hogsten | The Salt Lake Tribune) A registered nurse and a clinical assistant get nasal swabs and information from a family of four at the Nomi Health COVID-19 testing site in the parking lot of Amazon on Friday, June 10, 2022 in Salt Lake City.

Utah reports 5,800 new COVID-19 cases and 16 deaths, including Salt Lake County child

By Paighten Harkins | July 28, 2022, 9:30 p.m.

(FOX13) Ogden Police Lt. Will Farr addresses reporters at a July 11, 2022, news conference, following the arrest of a 28-year-old man accused of killing a man in Spanish Fork, then another in Ogden.

Utah man faces 2nd murder charge in ‘purge’ killings; attacks were random, prosecutors say

By Paighten Harkins | July 27, 2022, 10:25 p.m.

Heather Ashton Miller, in an undated photo provided to The Salt Lake Tribune. A federal jury in Utah on Friday awarded $10 million in damages to her family after a lawsuit alleged that Miller died from a fall in her Davis County Jail cell after a jail nurse brushed off her injuries.

Jury awards $10M to family of Utah woman fatally injured in Davis County Jail fall

By Paighten Harkins | July 27, 2022, 7:52 p.m.

(Leah Hogsten | The Salt Lake Tribune) Salt Lake City K-9 police officer Nickolas Pearce appears before Third District Court Judge William K. Kendall, Tuesday, July 26, 2022, during his preliminary hearing on assault charges related to K-9 attacks.

1 of 2 felony charges dismissed against Salt Lake City officer accused in K-9 attacks

By Paighten Harkins | July 27, 2022, 1:20 a.m.

(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Graffiti saying "Homeless were evicted from here" obscures art from the 9 Pillars Mural Project under the 600 South/Interstate 15 offramp on Thursday, July 14, 2022.

A mural for homeless youth in Salt Lake City was defaced. The vandal called it an ‘improvement.’

By Paighten Harkins | July 22, 2022, 5:51 p.m.

(Leah Hogsten | The Salt Lake Tribune) The Nomi Health COVID-19 testing site in the parking lot of Amazon on Friday, June 10, 2022 in Salt Lake City.

Utah hits 1 millionth coronavirus case during highly contagious BA.5 surge

By Paighten Harkins | Anastasia Hufham | July 21, 2022, 10:23 p.m.

Ogden man found hanging dies in 2nd ‘purge’ killing; 1st victim ‘did not deserve’ attack, niece says

By Paighten Harkins | July 14, 2022, 12:13 a.m.

(Screenshot via FOX 13) Ogden police Lt. Will Farr addresses reporters at a July 11, 2022, news conference, following the arrest of a 28-year-old man accused of killing one man in Spanish Fork and critically injuring another in Ogden. The man told investigators he was directed by a higher power to "purge" the cities, police said.

Suspect in Spanish Fork killing, Ogden attempted hanging told police attacks were part of ‘purge’

By Paighten Harkins | July 12, 2022, 10:41 p.m.