A 48-year-old woman was killed earlier this month when someone in a car outside her Taylorsville home fired at least seven shots into the building, reportedly meaning to hit the woman’s nephew but striking her instead.
Jawnie Wey died July 10. On Thursday, police got a big break in the case when they interviewed someone who was in the car during the drive-by. Thirty hours of “exhaustive” detective work later, a 16-year-old boy and a 20-year-old man were booked into jail on suspicion of murder, Unified police spokeswoman Sgt. Melody Gray said.
The shooting, she said, apparently stems from a dispute over a stolen French bulldog. Gray didn’t elaborate on the alleged theft.
According to a probable cause statement, the man, the teen and two others drove by a home near 4900 South and 1950 West.
A witness in the car told police that the man was “upset and heated about something” — apparently the theft of the dog — and wanted to go to the house. As the four drove by, the teen fired several times, according to the probable cause statement.
The 16-year-old told police that the 20-year-old shot at the house, but the man and the witness said that the boy fired and that the man was driving. Gray said police believe the teen was the shooter.
After the shooting, the group apparently went to a groomer to pick up the man’s dog, according to the probable cause statement. Gray said she doesn’t believe the dog at the groomer was the stolen bulldog, because that dog was still at the Taylorsville home when officers investigated.
While the man reportedly didn’t fire the gun, Gray said police arrested him on suspicion of murder “because … they’re all together in the commission of the crime, [and] the decision to make the crime, and because someone died during the commission of the crime.”
Gray said officers are reviewing their case against the two others in the car, and the district attorney will decide whether the pair will be charged.
Court records show that the man hasn’t been formally charged in the case. Case information for the teen isn’t available because he is a minor.
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