- Two men were charged Thursday with murder in an April 20 Salt Lake hotel shooting.
- Chino Aguilar and Carlos Chee were arrested in Wyoming after a crime spree, police say.
- Christian Lee was shot at close range; the suspects were linked to a New Mexico robbery.
SALT LAKE CITY — Criminal charges were filed Thursday against two men who were arrested in Wyoming in connection with a fatal shooting at a Salt Lake hotel.
Chino Montana Aguilar, 21, and Carlos Samuel Chee, 22, are each charged in 3rd District Court with murder and aggravated robbery, first-degree felonies; and being a restricted person in possession of a gun, a third-degree felony.
"Chee and Aguilar were on a crime streak which started in New Mexico and ended in Wyoming where they were taken into custody. The defendants apparently had no regard for the safety or lives of anyone," prosecutors allege in charging documents.
Christian Lee, 32, was shot and killed inside a room at the SpringHill Suites, 625 S. 300 West, on April 20 about 6:40 a.m. Lee had rented two rooms in the hotel for himself and friends.
A woman told police she had been staying in one of the rooms and "reached out to a male on a dating application whose profile name said Carlos. Carlos was supposed to sell (the woman) some marijuana," according to the charges.
Aguilar arrived at the hotel with Chee, and Chee went to the woman's hotel room with marijuana and a gun, the charges state.
"(The woman) stated that Carlos was high on cocaine and had been awake for days. Carlos was very paranoid, repeatedly checking windows, the peephole, and the bathroom. Carlos constantly handled the handgun and occasionally waved the handgun. Carlos told (the woman) that he had been living in his car after coming from Arizona, that he had robbed people of cocaine there, and believed people were after him, which he linked to the bullet holes in his vehicle," according to charging documents.
Later, Lee went to the room with Austin James Wilson, 26, to tell the woman and Chee to leave because he needed the room. But after neither one answered the door, Wilson "suddenly shouldered his way in, and aggressively demanded, 'What's up, cuz?' while moving toward the back of the room," the court documents say.
The woman told police she saw Chee point his gun at both Wilson and Lee before she ran into the bathroom. That's when she heard a gunshot and came out to find Lee had been shot.
"The victim died on scene from a gunshot wound to the head, and his forehead and face had a significant amount of stippling, indicating he was shot at a very close range," prosecutors say in the charges.
Detectives also reviewed surveillance video from the hotel and noted that while Lee and Wilson were trying to get into the room, "Aguilar walks past (them), but after (Wilson) enters the room, Aguilar turns around and walks into the room after (Lee). Aguilar is then seen coming out into the hallway and pulls a black gun out of his pocket before reentering the room. Chee and Aguilar are then seen running from the room toward the exit," the charges state.
After Chee and Aguilar fled the scene, police in Clovis City, New Mexico, called Salt Lake police.
"The foster parents of Chino Montana Aguilar contacted Clovis City Police Department and notified them that Aguilar had admitted to a shooting that occurred in Salt Lake City," the charges allegte.
Investigators "pinged" the duo's phones, which showed them traveling east on I-80 into Wyoming.
"Chee and Aguilar were located in Rock Springs, Wyoming, where they were taken into custody by the Sweetwater County Sheriff's Office," police said. Arrest warrants were issued in Salt Lake City to have the two men extradited back to Utah to continue the investigation into the killing.
The two are also wanted in New Mexico in connection with the robbery of a marijuana dispensary.
Wilson was arrested a couple of days after the killing for investigation of being a restricted person in possession of a gun, failing to stop for police and drug possession.
