A judge in Cedar City handed down the maximum sentence allowed by law on every count against Matthew Sorber-Petrie on Tuesday, ordering the terms to run consecutively in the murder of 17-year-old KayLee Dutton. The sentencing closes out the third and final case stemming from the January 2025 shooting that killed the teenager and injured her close friend.
Judge Meb Anderson imposed sentences on nine criminal counts, including six first-degree felonies, following a four-day jury trial in August that ended in Sorber-Petrie's conviction, according to St. George News. The murder conviction alone carries 15 years in prison, while five counts of felony discharge of a firearm causing bodily injury each carry five more years, bringing the statutory minimum for those six charges to 40 years combined.
Anderson told Sorber-Petrie during the hearing in Cedar City's 5th District Court that he should receive the maximum sentence allowed by law on each individual count of conviction, which shall run consecutive to each other. The hearing lasted about an hour. Beyond the murder and firearm counts, Sorber-Petrie also received a term of one to 15 years for obstruction of justice, a second-degree felony, plus a 12-month jail term and a separate six-month jail term for drug possession convictions.
A Deadly Chase Near Three Peaks
The case traces back to Jan. 17, 2025, when Sorber-Petrie's former roommates, Ethan Galloway and Michael Hess-Witucki, chased KayLee Dutton's red pickup truck for several miles near the Three Peaks Area northwest of Cedar City before opening fire. The shooting killed Dutton and injured her close friend, who was riding in the front seat of the cab. Galloway and Hess-Witucki both pleaded guilty to murder and are now serving their sentences at the Utah State Prison.
Iron County Attorney Chad Dotson argued at the hearing that Sorber-Petrie should be given the maximum sentence for each charge and that the counts should run consecutively. Dotson discussed Sorber-Petrie's role in the crime, while Dutton's mother said Sorber-Petrie bought guns and planned the scenario.
Sorber-Petrie's Defense
Defense attorney Ryan Nielsen represented Sorber-Petrie.
Dutton's mother, Kimberlee Dutton, told the court that Sorber-Petrie and his roommates caused lasting harm to everyone who knew and loved her daughter. KayLee's grandmother, Karen Hunter, was also present for the proceedings. The friend who survived the shooting, Sydney Neal, described trying to perform CPR on KayLee for 11 minutes after the truck came to a stop near trees and a fence north of Midvalley Road, and said the ordeal has left her with survivor's guilt, nightmares, panic and anxiety.
How Utah Law Treats Stacked Sentences
Under Utah law, a court must determine whether sentences for multiple felony offenses run concurrently or consecutively, and must state that decision on the record and in the judgment and commitment order, according to the Utah State Legislature's criminal sentencing statute. Anderson's ruling that Sorber-Petrie's nine sentences run consecutively echoes the outcome in his co-defendants' cases, where the same judge ordered Galloway's and Hess-Witucki's terms to run consecutively as well, producing minimum sentences of 40 years for Galloway and 20 years for Hess-Witucki.
With Sorber-Petrie's sentencing, all three men charged in connection with KayLee Dutton's death have now been sentenced. The case, which played out over nearly two years from the January 2025 shooting to this week's final hearing, ends with every defendant facing decades of mandatory prison time under Utah's consecutive-sentencing framework.
