Investigators say man shot, killed his wife, 5 kids, mother-in-law at Enoch home

Written by Jeff Richards
January 5, 2023

ENOCH — Investigators have released the identities of those found dead at a home in Enoch on Wednesday, with the suspect being a man who allegedly killed his wife, mother-in-law and five children.

Police at the scene of a home in Enoch, Utah where eight members of a family were found dead on Jan. 4, 2023 | Photo by Haven Scott, St. George News / Cedar City News

Wednesday afternoon, officers from Enoch City Police Department were summoned to 4923 N. Albert Drive in reference to a welfare check. According to a press release issued by the city of Enoch, concerned family and friends contacted police after not hearing from the victims.

Officers entered the residence at approximately 4 p.m. and discovered three adults and five minors deceased inside the home, as previously reported on St. George News. Each appeared to have sustained gunshot wounds.  

While the investigation is ongoing, investigators said they believe there are no suspects outstanding. Evidence suggests that the suspect took his own life after killing seven others in the home, the news release states, adding that the suspect is 42-year-old Michael Haight.

The two other adults in the home were Haight’s wife, Tausha Haight, 40, and her mother, 78-year-old Gail Earl. The minors, whose names were not released, were identified as Michael and Tausha Haights’ five children: a 17-year-old girl, a 12-year-old girl, a 7-year-old girl, a 7-year-old boy and a 4-year-old boy. 

During a press conference held late Thursday morning at the city offices, Enoch City Manager said the initial call to dispatch came from someone with whom Tausha Haight had missed an appointment on Wednesday morning.

“A few hours after that welfare check call came in and Tausha was not located, a missing person’s report was requested,” Dotson said, adding that Cedar City Police then passed that report on to Enoch City Police, since the family’s residence was in Enoch.

L-R: Iron County Shool District official Tim Marriott, Enoch Police Chief Jackson Ames, Enoch Mayor Geoffrey Chesnut and Enoch City Manager Rob Dotson prepare to speak at a news conference, Enoch, Utah, Jan. 5, 2023 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News

At that point, Dotson noted, “The welfare check to locate Tausha became an effort to find the entire family.”

Authorities did not say how long the bodies were believed to have been inside the home but did note that Tausha Haight and one of her daughters were seen at a church function on Tuesday evening.

Officials said that additional information may be forthcoming as evidence is collected, witnesses are interviewed and autopsies are performed. 

Enoch Mayor Geoffrey Chesnut called the incident “a tremendous blow to many, many families, who have spent many, many nights with these individuals who are now gone.”

Chesnut said he appreciates the messages he’s received offering resources and support, including a phone call Wednesday night from Gov. Spencer Cox expressing his condolences.

“And as recently as this morning, we received an offer for assistance from the National Security Council, wanting to make sure that if we needed resources for our community, given the scale of this incident that they would be made available,” Chesnut added.

“We here in Enoch, a little town of about 7,500, are very grateful to the greater world at large, who are mindful of us at this time,” Chesnut said. “We ask that if you have the ability to contribute some resources to help, that is great. But at this point, we do ask more that you respect the privacy of the families involved.”

Chesnut did note that Tausha Haight had filed for divorce on Dec. 21, 2022.

“The information that we have is that there was a divorce petition filed,” he said. “That investigation is still ongoing at this point.”

Sign in front of Enoch City offices, Enoch, Utah, Jan. 5, 2023 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News

It was also noted that the five Haight children attended four different schools within Iron County School District, ranging from high school to preschool.

Tim Marriott, the district’s student services coordinator, said a crisis mobile response team has been activated, including “therapists and counselors in those schools that are most impacted by this tragedy.”

“We recognize that the next several, several days, weeks, months that are coming are going to be difficult for our schools and for our teachers,” Marriott said. “I know that our community and our therapists and our school counselors, (and) teachers, they stand ready to be that support and that rock for the students, to make their day as normal as possible, with the difficult things that they will continue to face.”

As the news conference concluded, Dotson addressed the group of more than one dozen reporters and said, “You may have noticed that there’s a little quakiness in our voices and a little shininess to our eyes.”

“This is what our public feel,” he said. “Discussing it, talking to each other about it brings out these emotions. And it’s natural. The expectation is that we’re supposed to be tough. The police officers that investigated, that walked through the home, that had to discover the information, had to record the information. There are human beings. They know this family. This is emotion that you see.”

Dotson also asked for people to be mindful of everyone involved, including family members and law enforcement officers.

“Pray for the family,” he said. “If you’re not a religious person, care for your family. Stand with your family, support them. Love them, just like we love each other and we love this family.

“We don’t know why this happened,” Dotson added. “No one will probably know what was going through the mind of these individuals. However, we do know that they were our friends, they were our neighbors and that we love them.”

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Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2023, all rights reserved.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jeff Richards, a native of Salt Lake City with family roots in Panguitch, lived in Moab for 20 years before joining St. George News in 2017. Jeff is a longtime journalist and secondary school teacher. He and his wife Penny are the parents of five daughters. They also have three young grandsons. Jeff and his family enjoy swimming, camping, sightseeing, reading, and taking pictures.

Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @stgnews@moabjeff@stgnewssports

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