Makayla Yeaman Hid, then Tried to Flee, and then was Shot

  Inside a home in West Jordan with a sign warning trespassers they will be shot, and if they survive, they will be shot again, in the early morning hours of June 8, Nikolas Hill, found a home invader hiding inside his closet. At one point, she held the palms of her hands in the air, toward him, and, at some point -- perhaps not the same point -- she said, "I'm going to go." And, at some point, she made a break for the front door, which was right next to the closet where Hill had discovered her.
   But, it was locked. Having gained her entry through the garage  -- as it is believed she did -- she must not have known.
   The home intruder, Makayla Yeaman, turned back toward Hill, according to the account of the incident provided by Hill, himself. He had his gun raised. Her hands had been in the air, palms toward him, but they dropped towards her waist, and Hill said that is when he knew she was a dead person. An interviewing officer would later ask him how it made him feel when her hands reached down to her waistline. He would explain to the officer that this was not the first time that he had killed someone, but the first time he had killed someone in his home. He said he did feel unsafe and the training he had had just kicked in. He wasn't playing games. He was the person standing between the intruder and his family -- and intruder wasn't going to leave the home.
   As it ended up, she didn't -- at least, not alive.
   Hill said he fired four shots, believing two hit her in front, one in the side and one in the back. A knife would be found near her body, and Hill said it did not belong to him. The interviewing officer would ask Hill if he saw her display anything (meaning a weapon), and Hill would respond that he did not, but that it was dark, and he just reacted.
   Weeks later, the district attorney's office would screen the case, and decide not to prosecute.

    (Note: The above story I wrote after obtaining the incident report from the West Jordan Police Department Friday. The part of the incident report I got most of the information from was the report written by an interviewing officer, Detective Jason Richards. I obtained the 70-page incident report after making a records request weeks ago. They called me Monday and said they would release the incident report, but that the investigation, itself, was still ongoing. It has been believed that there could have been someone else involved in the home invasion, in addition to Makayla Yeaman. Whether that is why the case has continued to be investigated, I do not know.)