Police arrest 14-year-old suspect in fatal weekend shooting

SALT LAKE CITY — Salt Lake City Police took a wanted 14-year-old juvenile into custody Monday afternoon.

The boy was the subject of a police manhunt after a fatal shooting over the weekend. With the assistance of the SWAT team, police say they took the suspect into custody Monday around 3:30 p.m. Detectives were able to develop information about the suspect that led him to the area of 300 E. 700 South.  

Police say the suspect is accused of shooting and killing a 17-year-old Saturday night in the Rose Park neighborhood of Salt Lake City. 

The suspect had been considered armed and dangerous by police. Also, police urge anyone with additional information to call 801-799-3000 and reference case number 23-30287.

KSL legal analyst and attorney Greg Skordas joined Dave & Dujanovic to discuss whether the 14-year-old should be charged as an adult.

Debbie said she asked spokesman SLCPD Sgt. Mark Wian, but he couldn’t or wouldn’t provide much more information.

“I specifically asked is this family-involved, gang-involved? Is it completely random? The 17-year-old is walking down the street and ends up dead. I also wonder if it’s friend-involved? Do they happen to know each other? They [police] said this is an isolated incident, but how much more than that,” she said.

Wian said that they believe the shooting is an isolated incident between the suspect and the victim.

“We want to locate this 14-year-old boy… We want to protect him, and we also want to protect the community and obviously get his side of what happened here and really figure out what went on,” he said.

Debbie also said police would not say whether the shooting happened inside or outside.

Legal analysis of fatal shooting

Skordas said under Utah law, a 14-year-old can be charged with certain crimes, such as first-degree felony murder. 

If “the district attorney’s office decides to charge a murder or what we call an aggravated murder, they could charge him in the juvenile court and then the juvenile court would make a determination as to whether or not he would be better fitted and whether the facts are such that he could be transferred into the adult system,” Skordas said.

“Is it possible that a 14- or 15-year-old would end up in the state prison or would he would he be in some sort of juvenile detention until he is 18?” Dave asked.

“They wouldn’t put him in a facility necessarily when he’s 14,” Skordas replied. “I mean, that would be really problematic, and even the juvenile court can keep jurisdiction over him until he’s 25.”

Skordas said not enough of the facts are known about this case now to say how it will be ultimately adjudicated.

“It seems like Salt Lake City’s being pretty tight-lipped about the facts and circumstances,” he said. “It may be a self-defense case or bullying case. But if it’s a classic murder case, without justification, I could see the district attorney wanting this case to get into the adult system.”

Boy should surrender to police, attorney says

“I guess where my mind goes, Greg, is if this 14-year-old is hiding, not sure what to do, where to go, what’s the best path forward?” Dave asked.

“Well, the best path forward for his family or parents or whoever really cares and loves him is to have him surrender,” Skordas said, “because if it comes to a police encounter, that could be a high-risk encounter. It could be a violent encounter, potentially if they think he’s violent… If that was somebody that I knew or that I was close with, I would contact the police and just have him go down and surrender. He’s going to have to face the charges at some point. It’s better to do it on his terms than on someone else’s.”

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Dave & Dujanovic can be heard weekdays from 9 a.m. to noon. on KSL NewsRadio. Users can find the show on the KSL NewsRadio website and app, as well as Apple Podcasts and Google Play.