Two charged with gunning down Salt Lake man

Two charged with gunning down Salt Lake man

(Salt Lake County Sheriff)


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SALT LAKE CITY — Two men were charged Thursday with gunning down a Salt Lake man, killing him, after already threatening to rape and kill a woman, according to prosecutors.

Alekzander Ethan May, 18, of Midvale, and Edgar Omar Esquivel, 19, of West Jordan, were each charged in 3rd District Court with murder, a first-degree felony. Esquivel received an additional charge of criminal solicitation, a third-degree felony, while May was also charged with aggravated assault, a third-degree felony.

On Aug. 14, a woman received a message request on Facebook from someone named “Jokie Dinero,” who investigators later determined to be Esquivel.

“In the course of the conversation (he) threatened to rape, drown and kill her infant son and to kill her,” the charges state.

The woman told another man what was happening, and the man got into an argument on Facebook with “Jokie Dinero,” according to charging documents. They agreed to meet at the Sunnyvale Apartments, 3990 S. 700 West, to fight.

The man got his brother-in-law, Taylor Kauvaka, 31, to go with him. About 1:45 a.m. as the two sides spotted each other outside the apartment complex, Kauvaka and the man began to walk toward May and Esquivel.

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“As they approached, (the man) heard a shotgun rack and saw that May was holding a shotgun. (The man) stopped walking, but Taylor continued towards Esquivel and May,” the charges state.

May then shot Kauvaka with the shotgun, who fell to the ground, according to charging documents. May then pointed the shotgun at a witness and warned that person to stay back “or you’re next,” according to charging documents.

Police further stated in a Salt Lake County Jail report that “Taylor Kauvaka intervened after (May) pulled a shotgun from a cardboard box. Taylor placed himself in front of said witnesses and slapped the gun, which was being pointed in his direction. (May) fired a single shot resulting in Taylor’s death.”

After the shooting, May approached a police officer and told him that he had shot someone before leading the officer to a shotgun and shotgun shells, the charges state.

Esquivel’s family took him to the Unified Police Department to be questioned by detectives. While they were in an interview room, Esquivel was overheard asking his mother to delete his Facebook account, the charges state.

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Pat Reavy is a longtime police and courts reporter. He joined the KSL.com team in 2021, after many years of reporting at the Deseret News and KSL NewsRadio before that.

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