CRIME, POLICE + COURTS
UPDATE: Victim of third Springville shooting identified
May 26, 2022, 9:37 AM | Updated: Dec 29, 2022, 11:33 am
A high school in Texas is on lockdown after two students injured in a shooting. (*Photo: Getty Images)
(*Photo: Getty Images)
UPDATE 11:20 a.m. The Springville Police Department identified the victim of the shooting as 75-year-old Michael Huff of Springville.
33-year-old Krista Mortensen, who is in custody, was identified as Huff’s stepdaughter.
Police said Mortensen was booked in at the Utah County Jail.
Our previous coverage:
SPRINGVILLE, Utah — The Springville Police Department has a 33-year-old woman in custody after she allegedly murdered her father. According to a probable cause statement, her father was found dead of a gunshot wound Wednesday morning.
This is the third suspected murder in Springville in a week.
According to the statement, Springville emergency medical services responded to 471 North 100 East Wednesday around 10:48 a.m.
A woman, later identified as 33-year-old Krista Mortensen, had run to a neighbor’s house for help for her elderly father. She told the neighbor she needed help with her father’s feeding tube, according to the statement.
When medical services arrived they immediately called for law enforcement.
Officers responded and found Mortensen’s father, who the statement did not identify by name, dead with a gunshot wound to his head. Officers also found a gun near the victim’s feet.
The statement said Mortensen locked herself in a bedroom in the house and refused to come out or speak to the officers about her father. Detectives were able to get into the room with a key and found Mortensen laying in the fetal position on a bed, with blood on her body and clothes.
Mortensen was described as uncooperative and was given her Miranda rights by officers. While still in the bedroom, Mortensen stated that she wanted a lawyer.
The statement said officers then moved Mortensen to the living room for safety reasons. In the living room, Mortensen made unprompted statements about killing and shooting her father.
According to the statement, detectives obtained multiple warrants. Mortensen fought with officers and medical personnel when they tried to get her DNA, gunshot residue, and blood.
The probable cause statement said police suspect Mortensen of murder, obstruction of justice, and possession of a dangerous weapon by a restricted person. The statement also called Mortensen a danger to herself and others.
