A Salt Lake City woman is now facing criminal charges after allegedly shooting a pellet gun through the window of a gay couple’s home during a party — but for those who know the history of this block, the only surprise is that it took this long.

On the evening of May 2, Kyle Betit and Christian Castro were doing what neighbors do in the Marmalade District in spring — hosting friends in their backyard for an annual Cinco de Mayo party. The Marmalade District, tucked into the foothills just north of Capitol Hill, is one of Utah’s most recognizable LGBTQ+ communities, its streets dotted with rainbow flags and the easy familiarity of a tight-knit neighborhood. It was supposed to be a celebration.

Then their guests heard the crack of something hitting glass.

“We go upstairs to see what’s going on,” Castro recalled, “and we can see the person who shot the window, just sitting there.”

A pellet had been fired from a neighbor’s backyard, punching clean through the double-paned window of the home office where Betit works remotely. People were inside that room when it happened.

“I never anticipated that it might be a vulnerable position,” Betit said.

Witnesses at the party reported seeing the neighbor — a 40-year-old woman whose name QSaltLake chooses not to release due to evidence of mental health circumstances — place what appeared to be a rifle into a bag. Officers were called, and the woman was arrested on suspicion of property damage, reckless endangerment, discharging a firearm, and interfering with a peace officer. She has since been released.

The charges carry a maximum combined penalty of $7,000 in fines and up to three years in jail. Betit and Castro are pushing for something more: a hate crime enhancement. And if you know the full history of this street, it’s hard to argue they don’t have a case.

In a social media post published May 9th, Betit connected the dots explicitly, sharing a 2022 KSL News story about anti-gay harassment in the Marmalade District and writing: “Fast-forward from this KSL 5 TV news article four years ago… The woman who was harassing the young men in this article has chosen us as her latest victims.”

Four years ago, Cole Yates and two male roommates — none of them gay, though they lived in a predominantly LGBTQ+ stretch of the neighborhood — began experiencing what would become a months-long campaign of targeted harassment. In the first incident, Yates walked out to his car and caught a neighbor in the act of slashing his tire. The next day, another roommate’s tire was destroyed. Then came something more sinister: three Play-Doh figurines left on the doorstep, modeled as men holding hands, X’s for eyes, nooses around their necks.

After that, gay slurs were spray-painted on the garage door. Then, on the car. Then, on the mailbox, even after Yates had filed a protective order against the neighbor.

“You drive around, and there are rainbow flags on lots of these houses,” Yates said at the time. “I’m sure people walk around, and it’s offensive.”

Salt Lake City Police Detective Michael Ruff confirmed officers were aware of multiple incidents, yet said at the time that evidence was insufficient to make an arrest. Cameras that the landlord installed weren’t enough. The harassment continued regardless.

That neighbor, according to Betit and current SLCPD Sgt. Greg Wilkin, is the same woman now charged in the 2026 pellet gun incident.