Sentenced 15-life for infant's murder at family shelter
Today, Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill announced a Third District Court judge sentenced Zachary Jarred Walton, 30, to 15 years to life for the murder of an infant, S.S.
On August 25, 2024, the defendant was caring for S.S. at the Road Home Shelter in Midvale, where they both lived, while the infant's mother was at work. S.S.’s mom told police the defendant had cared for the baby on several occasions. The defendant told police that on August 25th, S.S. slept most the day, but she was awake and crying in the evening. The defendant decided to take the infant to the roof to calm her down, but he told police that when he got into the elevator, he hit her head twice using significant force. Video surveillance shows when the defendant got off the elevator at the roof, the infant’s head went limp, and he tried blowing in her face for around 17 minutes, as if he was trying to wake her up, before he took her down to the lobby, where she started to get medical attention and was eventually transported to the hospital.
At Primary Children’s Hospital an exam of S.S. shows she had skull fractures, intracranial hemorrhage, and both acute and healing rib fractures. While at the hospital S.S. was initially put on life support, but nearly two weeks later was taken off and died a short time later.
On December 8, 2025, the defendant plead guilty to one count of first-degree felony murder.
Today, a judge sentenced the defendant to 15 years to life for one count of first-degree felony murder.
A statement by the mother of S.S. was read by a representative of Utah Homicide Survivors at sentencing. In it she said she seeks justice for her daughter. Her mother talked about her daughter’s incredible intelligence, breathtaking beauty and infectious smile. S.S.’s mother said that she will show up and speak for S.S. the rest of her own life. The father of S.S. said that she gave his life purpose and motivation to be better than he had been before. He said she was full of life, love and potential.
“Our hearts go out to the grieving family of this infant today. We hope that the sentence imposed by the judge helps them feel they have received some measure of justice for the loss of their child. This infant death is a tragedy that could have been avoided, if you are responsible for a child and are struggling, please reach out for help,” said Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill. “We thank our prosecutors Emily Paulos and Karissa McKinney, as well as our support staff who worked on this difficult case. We appreciate our social worker Heather Taylor, who worked with the victim’s family. We also would like to recognize the excellent work by Unified Police Detectives that helped ensure this successful prosecution.”