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RIVERTON — Two men tied to a shooting death in Riverton are facing criminal charges, but not charges accusing them of the killing.
Thomas Leelyn Rose, 19, and Max Day, 20, of Orem, were each charged Thursday in 3rd District Court with obstruction of justice, a second-degree felony. Rose is also charged with being a restricted person in possession of a firearm, a second-degree felony.
Even though police say Rose fired several rounds at the victim, Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill told KSL.com on Friday: "Based on the evidence presented at screening, we filed the appropriate charges. The evidence presented would not have overcome a viable self-defense claim."
On Aug. 18, Riverton police responded to a report of shots fired in the Monarch Meadows area west of the Mountain View Corridor. Officers found a 19-year-old man near Skippering Lane and Mimosa Street who had been shot multiple times. The man, whose name has still not been released, was also wearing a bulletproof vest and had a gun and a machete.
At the crime scene, police reported finding a wallet in a jacket on the ground.
"The wallet contained a Utah driver's license, a Utah Valley University identification card and three financial cards belonging to (another person). Through a records check of the name found on the items in the wallet, an address was located in Orem," according to charging documents.
Police went to the address and served several search warrants, including one on a vehicle that matched the description of a car seen speeding away from the area of the shooting.
"In an interview with detectives, Day admitted he was driving the Lexus during the shooting incident on Mimosa Street. Day told detectives Thomas Leelyn Rose had been with him. During the interaction between Day, Rose and the deceased, Rose fired several shots at the deceased male. Rose and Day then left the area at a high rate of speed," according to charging documents.
Day claimed Rose threw Day's phone out of the car as they drove "so police couldn't track them," the charges state. Day also removed the license plate from his car and the stickers that were on it.
"Detectives, through the investigation, learned that Rose had tried to sell the gun he had used in the shooting," the charges allege.
Prosecutors say Rose was attempting to sell drugs and fired several rounds at the victim before fleeing from the scene. He then "bragged about the shooting on social media and is currently under investigation for an aggravated assault where the victim suffered a brain bleed," the charges state.
"Rose is a documented gang member with a history of weapons and drug violations," according to a police booking affidavit. "Thomas Rose took great lengths to avoid law enforcement contact after shooting and killing the victim. Thomas Rose has a lengthy history of gang membership and weapons offenses."
Day was one of the victims in a 2021 shooting in Orem during a drug deal gone bad that left one teenager dead and three others injured. Day, who was 17 at the time, was sitting in the back of a car when he was shot in the leg. Camden Hales, 16, was killed.
Andre Rodriguez, now 19, of Spanish Fork, pleaded guilty in that case to aggravated robbery, a first-degree felony, and to a reduced charge of murder, a second-degree felony, and was sentenced to at least five years and up to life in the Utah State Prison. Rodriguez's older brother, Sidney Rodriguez, pleaded guilty to manslaughter.
