Piute County teen pleads guilty to the aggravated murder of his girlfriend
Jun 13, 2023, 6:29 AM | Updated: Oct 25, 2023, 3:22 pm
JUNCTION, Piute County — A teenager pleaded guilty on Monday to shooting and killing his girlfriend, Jacqueline “Jacky” Nunez-Millan, 16, on Jan. 8.
Francisco Daniel Aguilar, 17, was charged on Jan. 13 in the 6th District Court with aggravated murder, attempted aggravated murder and felony discharge of a firearm; all first-degree felonies; and two counts of aggravated assault, a second-degree felony.
Judge Marvin Bagley ruled on June 6, less than a week before the plea, that there is enough evidence to order Aguilar to stand trial for two of those counts: aggravated murder and attempted aggravated murder.
The other three charges were dismissed by the judge, and the attempted murder charge was not included in amended charges filed by prosecutors although it was bound over. This may be the result of a plea deal.
Aguilar pleaded guilty only to aggravated murder, a first-degree felony that is not a capital charge. A plea statement has not yet been made public.
According to evidence presented in the preliminary hearing, Aguilar and his girlfriend had been arguing and “trying to make each other angry” when Aguilar took a 9-millimeter gun from his father’s room and ammunition and then drove to the Black Hill area in his truck.
A written summary of the preliminary hearing said Jacky got out of the truck after she was slapped twice and ran toward another car, when Aguilar fired the gun in her direction multiple times.
Aguilar told investigators he recognized the person in the car his girlfriend was running to, and she fell to the ground near the car. The summary said he “told investigators that he was not trying to hit (the other driver) but said he was ‘pretty sure’ he was trying to hit Jacky.”
The other driver also testified at the preliminary hearing and said she heard Jacky yelling “please help me … please save me” after hearing a noise that sounded like a rock hitting her car.
After the other driver left the scene, Aguilar walked toward Jacky and shot her again, charging documents said.
An autopsy showed Jacky was hit in her right leg and in the head.
Aguilar was arrested after a police chase where his tires were spiked. Police said he admitted to shooting and killing his girlfriend at that point.
