9-year-old finds mom dead after sister hears their dad shoot her, Utah cops say

A 10-year-old Tooele girl watching her napping 2-year-old brother heard her parents fighting, then a loud “boom” before her father stormed out of the house looking angry, Utah police told news outlets.

The girl didn’t hear her mother in her parents’ bedroom but assumed she wanted to be left alone after the argument Thursday, Aug. 18, police told KSL.

Her 9-year-old brother came home at 6:40 p.m. to ask their parents for permission to go swimming with friends, police told KSTU. He found his mother dead in the bathroom.

Neighbors heard the children screaming and called police when the kids ran outside for help, the Gephardt Daily reported.

The 35-year-old woman was pronounced dead, Tooele police said in a news release.

On Monday, authorities identified her as Porchia Patterson, KUTV reported.

She had a gunshot wound to her head, KSTU reported. While officers were at the home, her husband, Michael Leroy Patterson, 36, called 911 to report shooting his wife, police said, according to the station.

He surrendered to police and led them to where he had hidden his wife’s phone and his gun, KSL reported.

Patterson told police he and his wife had been arguing while she packed clothes to leave, KTVX reported. He entered their bathroom with a gun, startling her.

He said the handgun “accidentally fired,” hitting her, police told the Gephardt Daily.

Patterson was arrested on a charge of homicide, police said in the news release. An investigation into the death continues.

Tooele is a city of 72,000 people southwest of Salt Lake City.

This story was originally published August 21, 2022 at 9:35 AM with the headline "9-year-old finds mom dead after sister hears their dad shoot her, Utah cops say."