Mother of domestic violence victim hopes an appeal to the Utah Supreme Court will change state law

A Salt Lake City Police Department cruiser is pictured on Monday, May 13, 2024. (Kyle Dunphey/Utah News Dispatch)

After her wrongful death lawsuit against the Salt Lake City Police Department was dismissed last week, Shauna Mayne, the mother of a woman killed by her ex-husband in 2022, says she will appeal to the Utah Supreme Court. 

There, she hopes her lawsuit will spur a change in Utah law that currently gives governments immunity in wrongful death lawsuits — a change her attorney says could result in police departments giving officers better resources and training.  

“This was the expected, in fact, desired result,” said Judson Burton, Mayne’s attorney.

Mayne sued the department in March 2024, about two years after her daughter, Amanda “Mandy” Mayne, was shot by Taylor Martin, her ex-husband. In the lawsuit, attorneys argue officers should have done more to intervene when Martin showed up at Mandy Mayne’s workplace and made threats, just two days before the murder. 

However, Utah law prevents lawsuits against a governmental entity for wrongful death, if that death was caused in part by an assault or battery. Now that the case has been dismissed, Burton said he’ll file an appeal with the Utah Supreme Court, with the goal of stripping the government of its immunity in these cases. 

With no immunity, Burton said police departments would be forced to implement changes in how they respond to domestic violence. 

“Potential liability brings about a change in behavior,” Burton said. “We’d hope that it brings about a change at a systemic level — that the police officers out there pounding the pavement, doing the hard work of trying to keep people safe, are given the resources and the training they need to properly evaluate the lethality potential every time they’re responding to a case of domestic violence.”  

Martin had a lengthy rap sheet, and had made repeated threats to Mandy Mayne and her family after he returned from a one-year stint in jail, including a text to Shauna Mayne that read “your daughter will be killed,” according to court documents. Those threats were investigated by Taylorsville police. 

In August 2022, just two days before the murder, Martin showed up to Mandy Mayne’s workplace and threatened her new boyfriend. As police escorted him off the property, he told officers “I’m not going back to jail. … You guys are going to kill me before you get me into those gates,” according to court documents. 

Then on Aug. 17, 2022, between 4 a.m. and 5 a.m., Martin shot Mandy Mayne 14 times as she arrived at a bus stop in Taylorsville, headed to work. He then walked down the street and fatally shot himself. 

In the original complaint, attorneys representing the Mayne family alleged that Martin’s behavior in the days leading up to the murder warranted more action from Salt Lake City police officers. The complaint also argues that officers missed multiple red flags that suggested Martin posed a danger to Mayne and her family. And, Mayne’s attorneys say, police failed to properly investigate witness statements, communication from Martin, and to “arrange, facilitate and provide” Mayne with services available to victims of violence.

The Salt Lake City Police Department declined to comment on the lawsuit, instead pointing to previous court filings. In a motion to dismiss the case, filed in August, attorneys for the department say the Utah Governmental Immunity Act shields governments from wrongful death lawsuits. 

SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX

Citing that law, Utah’s 3rd District Court Judge Laura Scott dismissed the case on March 26. Once the court’s final judgement is filed, Burton will file a notice of appeal — the Utah Supreme Court could decide to hear the case, or it might first defer to the Utah Court of Appeals. 

Either way, the dismissal was expected.   

“I understand this is a step forward for our case and am grateful to know that Mandy is one step closer to getting her day in court,” Shauna Mayne said in a statement. “I believe we have a chance to make a real difference in how police approach domestic violence cases. Victims of domestic violence deserve to have their safety taken seriously.” 

If the case is successful, it would be the second time Mayne’s murder was the catalyst for a change in state law, and the way law enforcement officers interact with victims of intimate partner violence. 

The murder highlighted the gaps in how police respond to instances of intimate partner violence, and the lack of coordination between agencies. Mayne was the cousin of Utah Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson, who in the months that followed the murder, advocated for legislation that required law enforcement around the state to implement a lethality assessment protocol, which identifies the most serious cases of intimate partner violence. 

Nicknamed “Mandy’s Law,” the bill passed in 2023 and has been credited for a dramatic increase in victim referrals to domestic violence shelters and service providers around the state. 

SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE