Man accused of killing son in Ballpark murder-suicide was Salt Lake City employee

The man didn’t initially receive custody of his son after his 2019 divorce, but court documents show he had retained custody of the boy by the time of their deaths.

The Police Department on Monday declined to release additional information about the deaths, adding that the Owen family had requested privacy and did not wish to be contacted by news organizations. The Salt Lake Tribune has requested police documents that would indicate whether officers had previously been called to Owen’s address.

The Police Department on Monday declined to release additional information about the deaths, adding that the Owen family had requested privacy and did not wish to be contacted by news organizations. The Salt Lake Tribune has requested police documents that would indicate whether officers had previously been called to Owen’s address.

The man who police say shot and killed his 6-year-old son before fatally shooting himself Saturday night at their Ballpark home was a Salt Lake City employee who had recently filed for bankruptcy, court filings show.

Samuel B. Owen, 34, filed Chapter 13 bankruptcy documents in April that stated he was facing more than $546,800 in debt. The filings detailed his financial troubles, as well as the custody status of his 6-year-old child. The latest documents were filed in the case Thursday.

Owen and the child’s mother divorced in 2019, court records show.

While the boy’s mother initially retained custody, Owen ultimately received custody of the child sometime later, bankruptcy records indicate. He and the boy had since been living in Owen’s home on Van Buren Avenue near Main Street, and the child was attending first grade at Uintah Elementary School.

Salt Lake City police were called to the home on Saturday at around 10:30 p.m. on a report of a “possible death,” police said in a news release. Inside, officers found Owen and the boy dead. Officers are investigating the case as an apparent murder-suicide.

In a statement, Salt Lake City police Chief Mike Brown called the deaths ”a very tragic moment for our community.”

“These are among the most difficult calls for service our officers, detectives, crime lab technicians, victim advocates, and social workers handle,” the statement continued. “My condolences and prayers are with those impacted by this loss.”