Friends and family remembered Emily Carrington Thomas as a paragon of kindness and a center of strength. The 44-year-old White woman from Kaysville, Utah, was described by one friend as "one of those people that you never forget." She is survived by her adult son.
On the evening of December 7, 2023, a motorist near East Canyon Reservoir in Morgan County reported a suspicious vehicle parked on the side of the road. Morgan County sheriff’s deputies responded at about 5:24 p.m.
and found the car running with its headlights on. Inside, they discovered Ms. Thomas in the driver's seat, deceased from a gunshot wound to the head. Her boyfriend, Anthony Paul Franklin, then 42, was in the passenger seat and was taken into custody.
Investigators learned that the two had made a suicide pact. According to charging documents, Mr. Franklin admitted to authorities that he knew Ms. Thomas intended to end her life. The couple had consumed medication and alcohol together as part of their plan. When that attempt was unsuccessful, Ms. Thomas used one of two firearms that Mr. Franklin had brought along “just in case.” Deputies found the two guns, which belonged to Franklin, on the floor of the passenger side of the vehicle. Franklin was intoxicated when law enforcement arrived, but he was not injured.
Authorities charged Anthony Paul Franklin, of Ogden, with manslaughter, a second-degree felony. The charge alleges that he aided in the suicide by providing Ms. Thomas with the firearm she used. The case is believed to be one of the first to test a 2018 Utah state law that expanded the legal definition of manslaughter to include assisting in another person's suicide.
During a preliminary hearing in December, Mr. Franklin’s defense attorney argued that punishing the survivor of a genuine pact served no deterrent purpose. Despite these arguments, a judge ordered Franklin to stand trial on the manslaughter charge. As of April 2025, the case against him remains pending.
