By Khaleda Rahman
National Correspondent
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Two teenage boys are accused of murdering their mothers and siblings in separate incidents days apart, shocking their small communities in Utah and Alabama.
Colin Jeffrey Haynie, 16, allegedly killed his mom and three siblings as each returned to their home in Grantsville, Utah, on January 17. The homicides were the first in almost 20 years for the town of around 11,000 people, KUTV reported.
Haynie has been charged with four counts of aggravated murder for the killing of his mother Alejandra and his siblings—Alexis, 15, Matthew, 14, and Milan, 12—as well as one count of attempted murder for the attempted killing of his father.
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Days later, Landon Durham allegedly murdered his mother and 13-year-old brothers in their home in the small town of Munford, Alabama.
Holli Christina Durham, 36, and twins Branson and Baron Durham were found stabbed to death in the residence on January 21.
AL.com reported that the Landon Durham is thought to have killed his family members at around 3 a.m. before going to sleep for a few hours and then going to school. He was apprehended the following morning and charged with capital murder.
"It's one of the worst things I've ever seen and I've been here for 19 years,'' Talladega County Chief Deputy Joshua Tubbs told the website. "It's the worst thing I've seen in my career. This really has the community shaken."
Both teenagers will be charged as adults, officials have said.
Haynie faces 25 years to life in prison if convicted, the Tooele County Attorney's Office said on Tuesday.
Tooele County Attorney Scott Broadhead said Haynie shot his mother and sister Milan as they returned home at around 1 p.m. on January 17. He then shot his sister Alexis in the head sometime after she returned home from school at around 2 p.m.
Broadhead said Matthew died of a single gunshot wound to the head after he returned home at around 5:20 p.m.
Haynie's father Colin Haynie told police that he was shot in the leg shortly after her returned home at around 6:15 p.m., but was eventually able to get the gun away from his son.
"A struggle ensued and the defendant's father was hit in the head with an unknown object, causing a laceration," Broadhead said.
"The defendant's father was able to get the handgun away from him. He said that the defendant told him that his mother and other siblings were dead and that his intention was to kill everyone in the house except himself."
KUTV reported Colin Haynie surrendered to police at a hospital that evening.
Meanwhile, Landon Durham is facing life imprisonment, with or without parole if convicted, WVTM reported. The death penalty will not apply as he is under 18, Talladega County District Attorney Steve Giddens said.
"This is the kind of crimes you see on TV or the media or the internet that happen in other places and for it to happen here, it really hits home," Giddens said.
"Munford, like all communities in this county, are pretty close-knit, and I know they're hurting, and we are, too," he added. "I'm not wishing this on somebody else but it's hard to believe these kind of things happen."
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