By Tracie Sullivan, For Iron County Today
A 44-year-old man convicted of two felony assaults in a domestic violence case was sentenced Wednesday to two concurrent terms of up to five years in the Utah State Prison.
Judge Ryan Christiansen sentenced Christopher Lee Heaps in 5th District Court after Heaps pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and assault causing substantial bodily injury. Both are third-degree felonies.
Christiansen ordered Heaps to begin serving the sentences immediately and declined to recommend credit for time already served. He also imposed $19,106 in fines and ordered that a continuous protective order be issued.
The charges stemmed from a series of assaults and threats between February and May 2024 at a motor home in Beryl.
Prosecutors said Heaps struck the woman multiple times, knocking her unconscious and causing extensive facial bruising and head injuries that required emergency medical treatment.
He was also accused of forcibly confining her, threatening her with an ax and repeatedly threatening to kill her.
Photographs, medical records and audio recordings corroborated the woman’s account, Deputy Iron County Attorney Trajan Evans said.
Some of the recordings captured assaults and threats, including an incident in which Heaps allegedly pressed his forearm against the woman’s neck and restricted her breathing.
The woman eventually fled the area because she feared for her safety, prosecutors said.
Judge Matthew Bell previously ordered Heaps to surrender to authorities. Although Heaps was told several times to turn himself in, Evans said he delayed for months and surrendered June 22, two days before his then-scheduled court hearing.
While the assault case was pending, Heaps was charged in a separate case with violating a pretrial protective order that prohibited him from contacting the woman.
The new charge followed an April report that the victim had received repeated calls from blocked and unknown numbers. Prosecutors alleged one number was linked to Heaps and that calls and FaceTime requests from his mother were an indirect attempt to contact her.
The charge was dismissed July 22 as part of Heaps’ plea agreement in the assault case.