- Maricio Amar Reyes Valdez was sentenced to a term of five years to life in prison for a Salt Lake shooting.
- Valdez and several others were attempting to carjack someone at a party when their friend was hit in the crossfire.
SALT LAKE CITY — The second of three adults charged in connection with a "friendly fire" shooting death of a man at a 2024 Salt Lake party has been ordered to serve a prison term of five years to life.
Both Maricio Amar Reyes Valdez, 20, and Isidore Junior Barrera, 22, of Kearns, were charged in 3rd District Court in February 2024 with aggravated robbery and two counts of shooting someone causing serious injury, first-degree felonies; plus 18 counts of discharge of a firearm, a second-degree felony.
Valdez pleaded guilty on Sept. 2 to just two counts of discharge of a firearm, one a first-degree felony and the other a second-degree. The other 19 charges were dismissed as part of the plea deal.
"Although I didn't fire the shot that killed the victim, I committed this offense in concert with three others and a shot was fired that killed our friend who was acting in concert with us. His death, and the shooting that caused his death, was an accident," Valdez said in his plea statement.
Valdez was sentenced earlier this month to a term of five years to life in prison for the first charge and one to 15 years for the second charge. The sentences were ordered to be served concurrently.
At about 2:40 a.m. on Jan. 14, Salt Lake police responded to the area of 800 South and 300 East and found Gabriel Isidore Vigil, 18, on the sidewalk with a gunshot wound to his head.
Detectives searched Vigil's cellphone and "located a video showing someone getting beaten up and pistol-whipped outside on a snowy surface," charging documents state. Detectives also collected surveillance videos from the area, on which they found a car dropping off four people — Valdez, Vigil, Barrera and a 16-year-old boy — who started walking toward a short-term rental home where a birthday party was being held for Tommi Tiaria Jude Gallegos.
"The males then lift their arms and fire shots toward the Airbnb as they are running away. The woman runs back inside the house and (Vigil) can be seen falling to the ground," according to the charges.
According to several witnesses that police questioned, "the males asked to be taken to two different places to beat up people who threatened someone at a party."
They first went to a townhome where a boy was pistol-whipped. They then went to the Airbnb, where one witness told police "that all four boys had handguns and their plan was to go to the party, beat up another male, and carjack him to steal his car," the charges allege.
After the shooting, prosecutors say Gallegos repeatedly gave investigators false statements, lying about who was at the party and denying that she knew Vigil.
Investigators believe the four men — including Vigil — fired at least 18 rounds. But Vigil "was hit by friendly fire," and died after being shot twice, according to police.
Barrera pleaded guilty to the same reduced charges in February and was sentenced in April to the same prison terms. But his prison terms were suspended and he was ordered by the court to serve three years on probation and complete a rehabilitation program at John Volken Academy.
Gallegos, 25, of West Valley City, faces a charge of obstruction of justice, a second-degree felony, in the same case. Police say a 16-year-old boy was also arrested.
Gallegos' case for the obstruction charge is ongoing and a hearing is scheduled for next week.
