Guilty plea to reduced charges entered in 2013 gang-related murder

Guilty plea to reduced charges entered in 2013 gang-related murder

(Salt Lake County Jail, File Photo)


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SALT LAKE CITY — A man charged with shooting a rival gang member outside a convenience store last year pleaded guilty to manslaughter Friday.

Vilisoni Tuino Angilau, 20, pleaded guilty to reduced charges of manslaughter and discharge of a firearm causing bodily injury, both second-degree felonies, in 3rd District Court in the gang-related killing of 19-year-old Sione Fakatoufifita on April 13, 2013.

Fakatoufifita was shot outside a Salt Lake convenience store minutes after he called his parents for a ride home. Investigators at the time of Angilau's arrest said the two men were members of rival gangs.

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, police reported.

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.

Angilau was charged with murder and obstructing justice in August.

The manslaughter charge could result in one to 15 years in prison, while the weapons charge carries a possible three to 15 years in prison. Angilau is scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 8.

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McKenzie Romero

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