The Duchesne County Attorney’s Office has amended charges against the five defendants originally charged with Attempted Murder after an April 6th assault. According to an update issued on Thursday, the charges against 35-year-old Thomas Neil Tuinman, 33-year-old Stephanie Tuinman, 30-year-old Michael Wallace Tuinman, 30-year-old Samantha Tuinman, and 29-year-old Byron Rashad Thompson were amended from Attempted Aggravated Murder to Aggravated Murder on Monday, April 23rd. According to the Duchesne County Sheriff’s Office, a deputy was dispatched to 2725 West 2500 South at about 9:00pm on April 6th in the Vonsville area near Roosevelt. The deputy spoke to a woman who said that someone had broken down her front door and beat she and her husband. He could see that she was bleeding from her head, nose, and mouth. The deputy found her husband who was also bleeding among multiple injuries. The Sheriff’s Office reported that “Detectives were told that a few members of the group went to the front door, which was open with only the glass storm door closed. They broke the glass out and entered the house, chasing both victims out of the house and then assaulted them both outside the home…The man and woman were taken by ambulance to the hospital where medical staff determined the woman had bleeding on her brain,” shared the Sheriff’s Office. “The woman told investigators one of the female suspects hit her in the head with a bat.” She was flown to a hospital on the Wasatch Front for her extensive injuries and remained hospitalized until she died Sunday, April 22nd, at a hospital in Provo. The Sheriff’s Office released her name on Thursday as 51-year-old Sherry Lynn Melo. In addition to the Aggravated Murder charges, all five defendants are also charged with 1st Degree Felony Aggravated Assault and Burglary. With the amended charges, the judge set bail for each defendant at $50,000 dollars cash only. All five remain in the Duchesne County Jail and a conference for their case is set for May 14th in 8th District Court. The Sheriff’s Office offered condolences to Ms. Melo’s family and friends.
