This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
A Cedar City woman who was severely beaten in the bedroom of her home last week has died, and Iron County prosecutors were considering Thursday whether to increase the charges against her boyfriend of 11 years.
The morning of Sept. 9, Cedar City police officers went to a home at 1597 N. Cedar Blvd., and found 47-year-old Tracy Ellen Little lying amid a bloody scene in the bedroom.
According to a probable cause statement filed in 5th District Court, the walls, ceiling, floor, bedding and clothing in the bedroom and the floors, walls and ceiling of the adjoining bathroom were covered in blood.
Little had suffered multiple head and face fractures and was flown to Intermountain Medical Center in Murray, the probable cause statement shows. She died 10 days later on Wednesday.
Police said they also discovered Little's boyfriend, Kerry Lynn Richardson, 50, with blood on his hands, feet, face and back, but no visible injuries. They also found a methamphetamine pipe and several empty beer bottles inside the home.
Richardson told police that he had smoked methamphetamine with Little and drank the beer, the statement shows. He told police he couldn't explain how Little was injured, but said the two of them had been the only people inside the home, the statement shows.
He told police that he believed that Little had been cheating on him and said they "talked about this" after she returned home about 2 a.m., documents show.
Richardson claimed he then fell asleep and woke up later when he heard Little having trouble breathing and called 911.
Richardson faces charges of aggravated assault, domestic violence, a second-degree felony, possession or use of a controlled substance, a third-degree felony and possession of drug paraphernalia, a class B misdemeanor.