Jury trial begins for man accused of murdering 3, including a baby, in his home nearly 10 years ago
Aug 26, 2025, 2:19 PM
This undated photo provided by Salt Lake County Jail shows Alexander Hung Tran. Police in Utah arrested Tran on Saturday, Sept. 19, 2015, for the fatal shooting of multiple people. (Salt Lake County Jail)
(Salt Lake County Jail)
SALT LAKE CITY — After nearly ten years since his arrest, Alexander Hung Tran was brought into a Salt Lake City courtroom Tuesday to face charges in front of a jury.
Tran is accused of murdering Heike Poike, 50, her 2-month-old granddaughter, Lyrik Poike, and Dakota Smith, 28, in September 2015. Tran was 32 and living in the basement of the victims’ home at the time of the murders, which made national headlines at the time.
On Tuesday, the 10-person jury took their oaths. Both the prosecution and defense gave opening arguments.
As they watched, Tran was brought into court in a white shirt, tie and black suit. He submitted to handcuffs and ankle shackles when he was escorted in and out of the courtroom.
The prosecution began by calling its first witnesses, who included Ashley Nicole Poike, the daughter of Heike Poike and the mother of the two-month-old baby girl Lyrik Poike.
Ashley Poike began sobbing shortly after she entered the courtroom as she saw the man who allegedly killed her mother and daughter just about 20 feet from the witness stand.
She went on to answer questions, but broke down when asked to identify Tran in the courtroom. Tran did not show emotion, and kept his eyes forward during the testimony.
It’s taken years for a jury trial to begin due to multiple factors, one being that Tran was deemed not mentally competent to stand trial from 2016 to 2020. After being ordered to hospital time, Tran later pleaded not guilty to the murders in 2021.
Then, Tran’s attorneys argued to the Utah Supreme Court that police did not have probable cause to enter his home the day of the murders.
Prosecutors said police entered when they saw a blue tarp inside the home as they looked from the outside, and feared there was a body underneath. Investigators later said there was. Utah’s high court eventually ruled police were legally justified in entering the home.
Tran is now facing three counts of aggravated murder, which have been filed as first-degree felonies.
Under Utah law, if Tran is found guilty by the jury, he would face a minimum of 75 years in prison if a judge orders the sentences to run consecutively. Each charge carries a sentence of no less than 25 years in prison.
It also means the death penalty is not on the table in Tran’s case.
Contributing: Mary Culbertson, KSL TV
