UPDATE:
CLEARFIELD, Utah (ABC4) — The victims have been identified as Thomas Walker, 87, and Janice Walker, 85.
Clearfield Police Department said the couple volunteered for the Clearfield City Citizen’s Patrol for more than a decade until 2019.
“We are grateful for their love for the community, and we honor their dedicated service,” Chief Kelly Bennett wrote.
The investigation remains ongoing.
ORIGINAL STORY:
CLEARFIELD, Utah (ABC4) — A Clearfield man has been arrested for allegedly shooting and killing his grandparents in their garage on Wednesday, Nov. 23.
Jeremy Belt, 26, is facing a total of seven charges including two counts of first-degree aggravated murder.
Clearfield Police Department said in a press release that they received a 911 call from a 60-year-old woman who came home to find her 87-year-old father and 85-year-old mother dead in the garage just after 3 p.m. She reportedly said she believed her son, Belt, was responsible for their deaths. He lived in the basement of his grandparent’s house.
Belt allegedly told police during his interview that he was concerned that his grandparents and other family members “attempted to harm him,” according to the probable cause document. He also admitted to killing the couple.
The affidavit stated that he confronted his grandparents in the house about “accusations he [held] against them,” and they went to the garage to leave. Belt told them they won’t be able to leave because he had cut the wire to the garage door.
He followed them into the garage and kicked both of them in the chest, causing them to fall to the ground. He then grabbed a hammer and hit the couple’s vehicle. After he demanded a response to his accusations, he hit both of them in the back of their heads with the hammer.
After that, Belt returned to his bedroom to fetch his .22 rifle, loaded it with one bullet, went back to the garage and shot one of the grandparents in the head. Realizing he needed another bullet, he went back downstairs, loaded his gun and shot the other person in the head as well.
Police uncovered drugs like psilocybin mushrooms and marijuana when they searched the residence. They also found drug-related paraphernalia and a .30-06 rifle in Belt’s bedroom.
Belt also allegedly admitted later on to kicking another unidentified family member in the face, causing them to spot a black eye.
Belt is booked into the Davis County Jail on charges of two counts of first-degree aggravated murder; transaction of a firearm by a restricted person, a second-degree felony; assault, a class B misdemeanor; possession of a controlled substance, a class A misdemeanor; use or possession of drug paraphernalia, a class B misdemeanor; and criminal mischief, a class B misdemeanor.
