A man who allegedly shot an 18-year-old to death in St. George has been booked into jail, and his girlfriend has been arrested for allegedly helping him cover up the shooting.
St. George police received a report Wednesday afternoon that Skyler Armstrong had been shot in the head. According to police, when they arrived at 252 N. 2700 East, a pickup truck was “rapidly pulling away from the residence.” They stopped the vehicle, and the 32-year-old driver told them “he witnessed Skyler shoot himself.”
Armstrong was taken to a hospital, where he died from a gunshot to the left side of his head. According to a probable cause statement, Armstrong’s mother told police he was right-handed, and police said his injuries “were not consistent with a contact shot” and “lacked evidence that is usually observed when a gunshot is self-inflicted.”
Police identified several people who were in the bedroom with Armstrong when he was shot. Four of them said “they were looking at their phones when the shot was fired” and didn’t know what happened; a fifth told police the suspect was also in the room and was “smoking meth.”
According to the probable cause statement, the fifth witness told police the suspect “pulled a pistol out of his pocket ... removed all the bullets from the revolver and put one back in.” He then “spun the cylinder to put the bullet in an unknown firing location” and “pointed the gun at the ground and pressed the trigger”; it did not fire. The suspect then reportedly pointed the gun at a juvenile, and then pointed it at Armstrong and “pressed the trigger again. The gun went off, shooting Skyler in the head.”
The statement went on to say that the suspect's 26-year-old girlfriend told the witnesses “they need to tell the police they were looking at their phones and didn't see anything,” and that Armstrong “shot himself in the head.”
Two of the witnesses later changed their statements, telling police the suspect shot Armstrong.
Police found a “blood-covered revolver wrapped in a cloth believed to be a shirt” in the home, along with drug paraphernalia. And “white crystal powder believed to be methamphetamine” was found in the suspect’s truck, according to the statement.
The suspect was booked into jail for investigation of murder, aggravated assault, weapons charges, drug charges and five counts of tampering with a witness. The woman was booked into jail for investigation of obstruction of justice and five counts of tampering with a witness.
