Murder charges filed against 'rival gang' member

Murder charges filed against 'rival gang' member


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SALT LAKE CITY — Charges have been filed against a Salt Lake man in connection with a fatal shooting at a convenience store in April.

Vilisoni Tuino Angilau, 20, was charged Thursday with murder, a first-degree felony, and obstructing justice, a second-degree felony, in 3rd District Court. The charges stem from allegations that Angilau shot and killed 19-year-old Sione Fakatoufifita on April 13 outside a Maverik store at 1680 S. Redwood Road.

Angilau shot Fakatoufifita "because he (is a) member of a rival gang," according to charging documents. Police have said Angilau and other members of the Tongan Crip Gang pursued Fakatoufifita, who was part of the rival Baby Regulator Gang, through the Glendale area before finding him at the store, shooting him multiple times and leaving him for dead at the scene.

After the shooting, Angilau fled the scene and discarded a hooded sweatshirt and a firearm, the charges state. A Salt Lake County Jail report stated that the items were thrown into the nearby Jordan River surplus canal.

Police recovered the items and found the firearm matched the caliber of the one used to kill Fakatoufifita. An autopsy report found the man's death was a homicide caused by multiple gunshot wounds, the charges state.

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Police identified Angilau as the shooter "based on interviews of witnesses," according to the charges.

The jail report said several people came forward with information after the shooting, including those who picked Angilau up at the store and helped him flee the scene.

Another witness apparently told police Angilau confided in him about his alleged involvement. Fakatoufifita's fiancée, Morgan Maree Janet Holst, 18, has also been charged with obstructing justice, a second-degree felony, after she "lied several times to detectives about the details of her involvement" with Fakatoufifita, according to a Salt Lake County Jail report.

During her most recent interview with police, officers read Holst her Miranda rights, which she waived, and she then "continued to lie" to investigators during the interview, the report states, "and admitted she had lied several times in previous interviews."

A hearing on the evidence against Holst is scheduled for Tuesday. No court date has yet been set for Angilau.


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