Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
- Three men now face charges accusing them of killing two teens at a Halloween party in West Valley City.
- Yonis Muktar, Nuur Aden, and Justin Trujillo are each charged with two counts each of murder.
- Surveillance videos capture incriminating evidence.
WEST VALLEY CITY — Criminal charges were filed Monday against three people in connection with the killings of two teenagers outside a Halloween party in West Valley City.
Yonis A. Muktar, 19, of Taylorsville; Nuur Abdikadier Aden, 22, of West Valley City; and Justin Xavier Trujillo, 18, of Holladay, are each charged in 3rd District Court with two counts of murder, a first-degree felony; and four counts of discharge of a firearm, a third-degree felony. Trujillo was 17 at the time of the killings but was still charged Monday as an adult.
On Oct. 31, 17-year-old Javen Ryan "Bug" Welcher was shot and killed, and a 17-year-old girl was critically injured while standing outside a home hosting a Halloween party near 2600 West and 4000 South, according to police. The girl died a couple of days later. Her name has not been released. She is identified in charging documents by her initials, F. A-R.
The incident happened just before midnight. West Valley police responded to a report of a "loud party" and "shots fired" near 2600 West and Westshire Drive. Officers say a fight broke out inside the residence that spilled into the street.
Not long after the shootings, a crash involving cars taking victims from the party to the hospital was reported near 5300 S. State. Both Welcher and the teen girl were found inside one of the vehicles.
A 17-year-old boy who lives at the house told police he was hosting a Halloween party and that he only intended to have 30 people over, "but when he returned to his house after picking up a friend, the front yard was full of people and the inside of the house was packed," according to charging documents.
The teen and his older brother say as they were kicking people out, a fight started inside his house "and when someone said that the cops had been called, people started leaving. (The teen) stated that while he was standing outside, he heard seven to nine shots," the charges state.
Police talked to several people who claimed Muktar had issues with some of the people in the victims' vehicle.
"The victims were hanging out near their black Ford when they decided to leave. They pulled up next to a white Mercedes, and people started asking where Muktar was," the charges state. "Muktar then walked up to the black SUV, peeked in and then ran off."
A short time after leaving, the SUV got lost and turned around and then stopped next to a white Mercedes and a white Hyundai.
"When the Mercedes peeled out, gunfire erupted, striking two occupants of the black SUV who later succumbed to their injuries. During the investigation, detectives learned that Muktar felt threatened and had called Aden and Trujillo to come help him. Video surveillance shows a white Hyundai open fire on the black Ford and Aden run up behind the black Ford firing a rifle," according to the charging documents.
About one hour after the killings, "detectives obtained a video posted on Instagram by Muktar. Muktar can be heard saying, 'It take me one word, one phone call just to get a guy killed,'" according to the charges.
A second video on Muktar's phone was recorded on Nov. 1 about 1:45 p.m., police say.
"The video is taken from the inside of a car driving down a street where Mukta can be heard saying, 'It happened right here.' Another video, recorded on Nov. 1 at 11:16 p.m. depicts Muktar singing along to a rap song saying he 'pops out with Glocks out,'" the charges state.
In another video recorded on Nov. 2, a male is heard saying the driver who took the two shooting victims to the hospital was "next," according to court documents. "He's gonna die just like his … home girl," the person is heard saying.
Detectives also recovered surveillance videos from nearby residences. One "captured the shooting" while another video show "a male believed to be Aden in the front lawn of a residence, firing a rifle down the street toward the vehicles during the shooting," the charges state.
