WEST VALLEY CITY — A homeless man has been linked to a sexual assault in West Valley a year ago, thanks to DNA testing.
Latrell Levi Lauhingoa, 34, was charged Friday in 3rd District Court with attempted rape and forcible sexual abuse, second-degree felonies.
On May 23, 2025, a woman was walking along an undisclosed trail in West Valley when Lauhingoa "approached her, grabbed her and threw her to the ground," according to charging documents.
"Lauhingoa placed his hand over (her) mouth to prevent her from screaming," and attempted to take her pants off, the charges state. "(Lauhingoa) attacked and attempted to rape the victim, a stranger, in a public place, in broad daylight."
A nearby resident, however, heard the woman's screams and "jumped over a wall" to chase Lauhingoa off.
"(Lauhingoa) violently attacked the victim and, had it not been for a nearby resident chasing him away, he may have successfully raped the victim," prosecutors state in their charges.
The woman suffered "multiple cuts, abrasions and bruising on her back, chest, arms, legs and bruising on her breast," the charges state.
DNA from the assault was collected and submitted to the state's database, and the "DNA profile match positively identified Lauhingoa as the contributor to the DNA samples," according to the charges.
Investigators are now looking at Lauhingoa in a sexual assault investigation from 2015. Prosecutors state in the charges that DNA testing from the 2025 case also matched the assailant in the 2015 case.
