SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, May 30, 2024 (Gephardt Daily) — A 40-year-old Murray man faces an attempted murder charge after police say he hit his mother twice in the head with a hammer last week.
Charging documents say Dray D. Howick attacked his mother with a hammer in an unprovoked assault at a Murray residence on May 23. The woman was in the bathroom when Howick allegedly entered and hit her twice in the head with a hammer.
Medical records indicate seven staples were needed to close the 3 cm laceration in the woman’s head, according to charges filed Thursday in 3rd District Court.
Howick later told Murray police he hit the woman with a blue claw hammer, and intended to “put her down” and “decapitate her with an ax,” the charges say. He also admitted to damaging two doors in the home, police said.
The woman told police her vision went dark and then came back following the first of the two hits with the hammer, according to charging documents. She said Howick then hit her a second time before turning around and leaving, the charges say.
“Domestic violence and elder abuse of anyone is unacceptable,” Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill said. “It is both a physical assault and emotional betrayal by someone you trust. It can be devastating, but there is a community of resources available to assist if you or someone you love is experiencing this.”
Howick has been charged with first-degree felony attempted murder; or in the alternative, aggravated abuse of a vulnerable adult, a second-degree felony. He’s also been charged with property damage/destruction, a class B misdemeanor.
Howick is being held without bail in the Salt Lake County jail system.
