Victim's ex charged in Clinton slaying

FARMINGTON — James Thomas May III remembers the 10 harrowing minutes he spent inside the house where his girlfriend was killed early Monday morning.

He was awakened by his girlfriend, AnnaLee Christensen, after a man entered her Clinton residence, 1129 W. 1640 North, and began threatening her with a gun.

"He asked me did I have any family here in Utah," May recalled. "That's when I knew his intention was to kill us."

Prosecutors Wednesday morning charged Christensen's ex-boyfriend Trovon Donta Ross with aggravated murder, a capital offense; attempted aggravated murder, a first-degree felony; and failure to respond to an officer's signal to stop, a third-degree felony.

Ross, 29, could face the death penalty if convicted of aggravated murder.

"I would like to see him get the death penalty," May said Wednesday afternoon as he stood outside 2nd District Court following a brief court hearing for Ross.

Shackled at the ankles and wrists and wearing red pants and a red shirt with "Davis County Inmate" stamped on the back, Ross wiped away tears as Judge Glen Dawson discussed his case with attorneys.

May joined some half-dozen members of Christensen's family who attended Wednesday's proceedings.

After conferring with attorneys at the bench in inaudible tones, the judge agreed to hold Ross in jail without bail. Dawson is awaiting a list of defense attorneys qualified to handle death-penalty cases before naming Ross' court-appointed lawyer.

Ross kept his head bowed and swayed from left to right during the most of the hearing. At one point, a bailiff offered him a tissue to wipe away his tears.

"It kind of disgusted me," May said after the hearing.

May was released from the hospital Tuesday. His right biceps are wrapped in a white bandage, and the slug that tore through his arm remains lodged in his chest. Doctors told him that if the slug had landed one inch to the right or left he would have died.

May is on a brief leave from his job as a photographer with the 84th Radar Squad at Hill Air Force Base.

Despite his physical wounds, May said the emotional pain of losing his girlfriend has been the most difficult part of his ordeal.

"It's like just a piece of me's been ripped out," he said while fighting back tears.

May said Christensen woke him up early Monday after the intruder had entered the house.