Home intruder shot, killed by homeowner

WEST JORDAN, Utah – Chances are, if a lot of police cars are gathered in one spot in your neighborhood, it’s not for something good.

“Just really surprised something like this would happen in our community,” said John Painter, who lives just a few houses down the road from the home West Jordan police officers had yellow crime tape around. “This would probably be the last place you would think something like this would happen.”

At about 5:30 a.m. Friday, police say his neighbor shot and killed a woman who had got into his home near 7600 South, 6700 West in West Jordan.

Police identified the woman as 23-year-old Makayla Juanita Yeaman.

It appears she used a garage door opener to get in.

“They were sleeping. They heard the garage door open and dogs barking, so the male grabbed a firearm to go down and investigate what was going on,” said West Jordan police officer Scott List.

When the homeowner got downstairs, that’s when he saw Yeaman inside his home.

“There was some type of altercation and he fired at least one shot and she has succumbed to those injuries and is now dead,” said List.

Police say after he shot her, he heard the garage door open again, but never saw a second person.

“We’re still trying to figure that out,” said List.

Investigators are looking into the possibility Yeaman was going into parked cars looking for garage door openers.

Several cars parked near the home had yellow crime tape over them as detectives looked for any evidence on and in the cars.

According to jail records, Yeaman was arrested in May 2018, on drug charges and booked into the Salt Lake County Jail.

She was also included in a KSL story two years ago on Utah Prison inmates who were earning their adult high school diplomas.

At the time, during her interview with KSL, she talked about life in prison, saying, “When you’re in a place like this, you really feel alone. It feels really lonely (even though) you’re surrounded by people all the time. Nobody’s your friend, you can’t trust anybody, and you’re not allowed to say how you feel.”

Yeaman also talked about drugs, the reasons why she was in trouble, and what she was hoping for after getting out.

There’s more to life than drugs and violence. I want to help people,” she said in the interview.

 The wife of the man who shot her said the family didn’t want to answer any questions at this time.

West Jordan police say they are still investigating the circumstances surrounding the shooting, but the man who shot her is not being charged with anything at this time and was allowed to go back home.

“Obviously, a citizen of Utah has the right to defend their property, and so we’re certainly going to look into that, especially when it’s in your home,” said Officer List.

Painter, who is also the HOA president of the Maples Community in the neighborhood, says he’d like to try and prevent this type of crime in the future.

“In our next meeting, we’ll talk about doing some crime watch, whether that means a certain street we’ll keep an eye on or whatever the case may be, just to make sure that nothing like this ever happens again in our community,” said Painter.