Officers, injured victims testify as man is ordered to stand trial for 4 deaths at WestFest

WEST JORDAN — A West Valley City officer said he was walking around the perimeter of WestFest in 2025 and was about to exit when he heard pops that sounded like gunfire — "small caliber, very close," he said.

David Hagues testified on Thursday that, although it was just a few seconds, time seemed to slow down as he turned to his right, saw Matthiaz Centre Lauti Ioane-Register firing the gun, and ran toward him.

"As I ran at the defendant, I fired one round, south up and away, because there was innocent people running between me and him, and there was innocent people behind him, as well," the officer said. He said the suspect was "firing multiple shots and continuing to fire multiple shots."

Hagues saw innocent people being hit and trying to get away as Ioane-Register continued firing toward who he thought could be the intended target — a man who was crawling away.

After Ioane-Register — age 16 at the time — was in custody, Hagues said he made sure he was OK and then tried to protect him from a lot of others who were "obviously upset," while calling for more officers and medical aid for others.

The preliminary hearing was held for Ioane-Register, 18, on Thursday before 3rd District Judge Stephen Nelson. The judge ordered him to stand trial on four counts of aggravated murder and five counts of felony discharge of a firearm causing serious injury, first-degree felonies; two counts of felony discharge of a firearm causing injury, a second-degree felony; and three counts of felony discharge of a firearm, a third-degree felony. One second-degree felony was added by prosecutors at Thursday's hearing.

Attorneys for Ioane-Register entered not-guilty pleas for each of the charges.

The June 15, 2025 shooting led to the death of three individuals at Centennial Park: Anderson Garcia Cabrera Jr., an 8-month-old boy who was in a stroller; Fnu Reena, a 41-year-old woman who was eight weeks pregnant; and 18-year-old Hassan Lugundi.

Charges said Ioane-Register "laughed and smiled" when he heard Lugundi had died. Prosecutors previously said Ioane-Register is a known gang member and Lugundi was a friend of members of a rival gang.

Hagues said there were between 10 and 15 people staffing WestFest that Sunday. It was Father's Day, and he volunteered to work so some of his co-workers could spend the day with their children. Based on fighting among teenagers at previous WestFest events, he said he suggested staffing more officers.

He testified about what could be seen on his body camera footage from that night, and said he doesn't remember if he turned it on or if it turned on automatically after a gunshot, because "ultimately, I'm trying to save people's lives at that point."

Two injured civilians testify

Aiden Jaquez had just arrived at WestFest with two friends when the shooting started; at the time, he was 15.

"I had just heard shots. … I started running," he said.

It wasn't until a few minutes of chaos later, when they were outside the fence, that his friend came up to him and told him he had a hole in his arm. They found someone who helped him wrap it up, and he talked to police.

Brianna Lucio had been at WestFest with her cousins and was getting off a ride when the shooting happened.

"We thought they were fireworks at first, but when we saw people running and screaming, that's when I knew we had to run," she said. "I was in shock. As I was turning around, I just felt my arm, like, it was hot and my fingers were twitching."

After the then-17-year-old was hit, she wasn't able to run. She said officers put something on her arm to stop the bleeding and she was taken to the hospital in an ambulance.

Both Jaquez and Lucio received surgery to remove the bullets from their arms. They said that after months of recovery, they still occasionally feel pain from their injuries.

The investigation

John Wells, a detective on West Valley City's homicide unit, testified about interviewing Ioane-Register that night and processing the scene. There were 13 casings found at the scene, he testified — one they determined was from the officer's gun, and 12 from a Taurus that footage shows was dropped by Ioane-Register.

He said when the gun was dropped, the slide was locked back and it had no more bullets. The gun can hold a total of 12 bullets.

Wells said that after life-saving efforts, the eight-month-old was transported to Primary Children's Hospital, where he died from a gunshot wound to the head, based on the autopsy report. Reena was also transported to a hospital and died from a gunshot wound to her head.

Lugundi was shot six times, and he said the autopsy found multiple of those shots could have been fatal. Wells said he was Ioane-Register's intended target.

The detective testified that the bullet shot by Hagues was found in a sign for a carnival ride.

Ioane-Register was interviewed with his mother, and Wells said he did not report being in any arguments or fights, and did not say anyone had pointed a weapon at him.

Officer Erwin Manriquez testified that while he had Ioane-Register in custody at the scene, the teenager "informed me that he knew what he was shooting at. He said that he didn't shoot a baby."

He said they moved Ioane-Register off the scene for his safety, and for their safety as people were yelling in his general direction.

Defense argues duplicate charges

Attorneys for Ioane-Register asked multiple witnesses if they had heard people shouting about a gang, and each said they did not hear that specifically but heard loud shouting.

Ioane-Register chose not to testify, following advice from his attorneys who did not present any other evidence.

They did not ask the judge to not order him to stand trial on the aggravated murder charges, but they did argue that five of the felony discharge of a firearm charges, accounting for five of the six shots that hit Lugundi, should not be bound over because they are duplicative and it is unknown which shots contributed to his death.

The attorneys, Lacey Singleton and Christine Seaman, also argued that one of the counts alleging serious bodily injury did not cause permanent disfigurement or a substantial risk of death and should be lessened.

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