Provo man charged with shooting and killing his mother

A Pleasant Grove woman is dead and her 21-year-old son has been charged with killing her.

Gage Anthony Dinehart, 21, of Provo, was charged Wednesday in 4th District Court with murder, a first-degree felony.

On May 19, after receiving reports of gunshots fired in the area of 200 West and 200 North, officers found a body in the road next to an SUV shortly before midnight, according to Pleasant Grove police.

The victim, Nicki Dinehart Peterson, 40, had been shot multiple times.

Moments later, according to police, officers responded to a report of a “suspicious” man near the city cemetery. According to a probable cause statement, paramedics nearby were approached by a man who was acting “erratically” and said he had been involved in a shooting.

Police identified the man as Dinehart, the son of the woman who had been shot to death. According to the probable cause statement, Dinehart told police, “I shot my mom.” He also told officers the gun he used was at about 500 North and 100 East, and they found it there.

The suspect told police he had argued with his mother earlier in the day. According to the probable cause statement, Peterson’s husband said the suspect was “agitated and demanding money from his mother.” The husband said Peterson told him she was going to the bank and to take her son “back to the bar.”

A neighbor told police he heard two shots and looked outside to see what was happening. The neighbor said he saw a man standing over another person who was on the ground, saw a muzzle flash and heard a third gunshot before the man ran away.

According to the probable cause statement, police retrieved surveillance video that shows Peterson and Dinehart go to the victim’s vehicle and “you hear three shots and the victim scream.”

Dinehart is being held without bail in the Utah County jail.