WEST POINT, Utah — James Randell Witten had no idea it would be the last thing he ever did.
The 71-year-old stepped outside his home on May 30 to take out the trash. The sun was still up. It was an ordinary evening on a quiet street.
Then the shots rang out.
“We heard the ‘pop, pop, pop,'” said neighbor Sara Herzog. “We went to the window and then the cops had blocked off the area.”
Witten did not survive.
“They just decided to shoot the first person they saw”
His wife, Maria, believes there was no motive — just a stranger with a gun making a deadly choice.
“They killed an old man who was doing no harm,” she said. “I think they just decided when they were driving down that they were gonna shoot the first person they saw in a yard.”
The Davis County Sheriff’s Office confirmed the suspect and victim were not known to each other.
How investigators made the arrest
Detectives spent weeks tracing a maroon Honda Civic seen leaving the scene.
Working with Las Vegas authorities, they identified 23-year-old Axel Eduardo Chavez as the suspect. He was arrested on June 16 and extradited to Utah.
Chavez now faces murder, felony discharge of a firearm, obstruction of justice, and prohibited dangerous weapon conduct. He is believed to be from El Salvador and was living in Los Angeles at the time.
A veteran remembered
James Witten served 20 years in the U.S. Air Force, including during Vietnam. He was known for hiking, camping, biking, and exploring with a close group of neighbors.
He was taken during a moment that could not have been more routine.
Does random violence like this make you feel less safe in your own community? Share your thoughts in the comments.
