West Valley police make arrest in Halloween double killing
Nov 20, 2025, 8:00 AM
A 19-year-old man has been arrested in connection with a double killing on Halloween night in West Valley City. (Yevhen, Shutterstock)
(Yevhen, Shutterstock)
WEST VALLEY CITY — A 19-year-old man has been arrested in connection with the killings of two 17-year-olds at a Halloween party in West Valley.
Yonis A. Muktar was booked into the Salt Lake County Jail on Wednesday for investigation of conspiracy to commit murder.
On Oct. 31, a 17-year-old boy was shot and killed and a 17-year-old girl critically injured while standing outside a home hosting a Halloween party near 2600 West and 4000 South, according to police. The girl died a couple of days later. The boy has been identified by his family as Javen Ryan “Bug” Welcher. The name of the girl has not been released.
As police investigated the shootings, detectives located a video on an instagram account that was posted just after 1 a.m. on Nov. 1.
“In this video, (Muktar) is heard saying that ‘it takes me one word, one phone call just to get a guy killed,'” according to a police booking affidavit.
Police questioned Muktar twice. During his second interview, he “stated that he called the driver for help specifically. (Muktar) knew that by contacting his friends for assistance that it would result in the death of two individuals,” the affidavit states.
Detectives note in their affidavit that “this is an active homicide investigation” and they are calling a “gang-related case.”
This story may be updated.
