On the evening of August 18, 2022, in Tooele, Utah, the life of 35-year-old Porchia Patterson, a Black/African American female, was tragically cut short in her own home. The events of that evening unfolded within the walls of the Settlement Canyon Apartments, where an argument between Porchia and her husband, Michael Leroy Patterson, escalated with fatal consequences.
Their children were home at the time of the incident.
Neighbors reported hearing screams followed by a "loud boom" coming from the Patterson's apartment. The couple's 10-year-old daughter later recounted to police that she heard a "boom" and then saw her father, Michael, emerge from the bedroom with an angry expression before grabbing his car keys and leaving. It was the couple's 9-year-old son who made the devastating discovery of his mother's body in the bathroom, wedged between the tub and the toilet with an apparent gunshot wound to her head. He then ran to neighbors for help.
Shortly after leaving the apartment, Michael Patterson contacted 911 and confessed to shooting his wife, providing the authorities with his location. He was taken into custody without incident. During the subsequent investigation, Michael claimed that the shooting was accidental, stating that the gun discharged when he entered the bathroom and startled Porchia. However, investigators found that the evidence at the scene contradicted his account of the events.
After his arrest, Michael Patterson led officers to a storage yard where he had hidden his SUV. In the surrounding area, police discovered Porchia's damaged cell phone, a firearm, and a magazine. The shell casing found at the scene matched the bullets in the magazine. Michael Leroy Patterson, 36, was subsequently charged with murder, discharge of a firearm causing serious injury, and two counts of domestic violence in the presence of children. He was booked into the Tooele County Detention Center.
