Photographs of Consuelo Alejandra Haynie, 52, right, and three of her children, 12-year-old Maylan, 14-year-old Mathew, and 15-year-old Alexis Haynie, left to right, are displayed at a candlelight vigil for the Haynie family at City Park in Grantsville, Utah, Monday, Jan. 20, 2020. Police say four members of the Haynie family were killed and one injured after being shot by a teenage family member on Jan. 17. (Spenser Heaps/The Deseret News)
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The killing of a Utah mother and three of her children by a gunman identified by police as her 16-year-old son is “nearly unbearable” for the father who survived, a lawyer said Thursday.
Colin L. Haynie “respectfully requests time and privacy to grieve and to heal himself and those he loves, including both of his sons,” attorney David Isom, who represents the father, wrote in a statement.
It marked the first public comments by Haynie since the killings occurred on Jan. 17.
Haynie was shot in the leg during the attack but still managed to wrestle the handgun away from the boy near the small town of Grantsville, west of Salt Lake City, authorities said.
He was treated for his injuries and his son — Colin “CJ” Haynie — was arrested.
“As you can imagine, this loss is almost unbearable,” Isom said.
Prosecutors have said the teenager “methodically” killed his mother and siblings one by one as they returned home over a period of five hours.
The teen was charged with 10 felonies, including four counts of aggravated murder. A motive remained unclear.
No attorney has been listed for the teenager who has been charged as an adult.
His father expressed profound appreciation for the support from friends, neighbors, and police.
A funeral for Consuelo Alejandra Haynie, daughter 12-year-old Milan and 15-year-old Alexis and 14-year-old son Matthew will be held on Friday. The couple has a surviving fifth child.
Jason Killian, a regional leader with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, said the tragedy has made people in the community “feel like something has changed inside us.” He urged people to mourn together and show concern for each other.
“There is so much about this that we may not ever understand,” Killian said.