The Uintah County woman arrested after shooting her roommate on August 14th has officially been charged in 8th District Court. According to court documents, 72-year-old Gloria Garretson-Cates has been charged with 1 count of 1st Degree Felony Attempted Murder – Knowing and Intentional. The charging document states that “on or about August 14th in Uintah County the defendant got in a verbal argument with a cohabitant victim. The argument escalated and the defendant picked up a hand-gun that was on an end table nearby and shot the victim in the chest.” The Affidavit of Probable Cause states that Ms. Garretson-Cates told the Detective that she had known the victim for about 20 years and the two had lived in the same house off and on during that time. She claimed the victim wanted her to take him to Lapoint to buy drugs and she told him she would take him in a little while. The victim became upset and started to “throw a temper tantrum”. Garretson-Cates was allegedly videoing the victim with her tablet when she saw a hand on the video screen. She says she grabbed her gun off the end table and shot the victim. Garretson-Cates was booked into the Uintah County Jail and the victim was transported to Ashley Regional Medical Center and later was taken by Classic Air to a Salt Lake City hospital. According to the Uintah County Sheriff’s Office, the 59-year-old victim’s condition had been upgraded to stable condition over the weekend. Garretson-Cates is scheduled today for her initial appearance in 8th District Court.
