GRANTSVILLE, UTAH: A young man has been awarded over 100 years behind bars after he was found guilty of taking the lives of his mother and his three younger siblings. Colin Jeffrey Haynie, who also goes by CJ Haynie, was reportedly sentenced on Wednesday, July 12, as a judge ordered him to spend 25 years to life for each of the killings, which will run consecutively. He was also given 25 years to life for an attempted murder charge, which will run concurrently. Additionally, he was asked to pay $28,000 as compensation amount.
The 19-year-old’s sentencing came after he pled guilty to four counts of aggravated murder and one count of attempted aggravated murder in July last year. He fatally shot his mother, Consuelo Alejandra Haynie, 52, and also claimed the lives of Alexis Haynie, 15, 14-year-old Matthew Haynie, and 12-year-old Milan Haynie. CJ, who was 16 at the time of the crime, also tried to murder his father, Colin Haynie, by shooting him in the leg. But he survived.
Who is CJ Haynie?
CJ is a convicted criminal, who killed most of his family members in 2020. On Wednesday, July 12, he said in court, “I want to apologize for what I did to this community. I cannot fix the horrible crimes I have committed that have caused the death of my siblings and my mother's, injuries to my father, and I can't ask for forgiveness for my crimes and mistakes. I want to make sure that people understand that my mistakes in my past are something that I will not do again," as reported by FOX13. Judge Teresa l Welch told the teenager, “Part of the immense sadness here is because you not only deprived your family members of their lives in such a tragic and terrible manner, but you also deprived yourself of your life with them.”
‘I do have hope for him’
According to the teen’s lawyer, Richard Van Wagoner, CJ has shown “so much progress from where he was.” He added, “I’m generally a glass-half-empty person, but I do have hope for him because I’ve seen so much progress from where he was. Are we disappointed? Yes. Am I surprised? No.”
Besides this, a statement by the Grantsville City Police Department read, “We are grateful to all the State, County, and local agencies that assisted our investigative team with this complex and emotional case. We appreciate the hard work and long hours put in this case by all the investigators and the prosecutor's office. We are grateful that a resolution was reached in the Tooele County District Court and we hope this can help the family and community start the healing process.”
