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SALT LAKE CITY — Three men have been arrested after allegedly targeting an 18-year-old man who was shot and killed Thursday.
About 7:30 p.m., officers were called to 211 N. Cornell St. (1550 West) on a report of shots fired. Inside a bedroom they found the body of Jose Javier "Jay Jay" Fernandez. A bullet hole could seen Friday on the wall next to a bunk.
According to a copy of a search warrant return that was given to the homeowner after investigators had gone through the house, a total of eight shell casings were collected from the room.
Police arrested James Williams and William P-Graham, both 20, in connection with the shooting. Details about the arrests were not immediately available. Salt Lake police detective Dennis McGowan said the two were arrested at separate locations.
Just after 1 p.m. Friday, Salt Lake police announced that a third man, Gaethan "Synn" Laguerre, 25, had turned himself in. Before then, investigators had warned that Laguerre should be considered "armed and dangerous.”
When Williams and P-Graham were arrested, they told detectives that they went to the house with a third man "with the intent to shoot the victim," according to a Salt Lake County Jail report.
Williams told investigators "his responsibility in the crime was to remove the children from the home so the third-party shooter could have clear access to the home in which to shoot the victim," the report states.
Friends say Fernandez did not live at that residence but was staying with a family from Sudan that had seven children, ranging from young children to teens.
Once the children were taken down the street, Graham said he was "forced" by the third man to enter the home, "where he was told to witness the shooting," according to the jail report.
Police remained tight-lipped about additional details Friday, including who lived at the house, how many people were home and a possible motive.
But a man who walked by the crime scene Friday said Fernandez was a gang member like himself. But the man, who wished to remain anonymous, said Fernandez was trying to get away from that lifestyle.
"He was a good guy in the process of changing his life around. He was trying to get away from this. And unfortunately, look what happened," the man said. "Your past is always going to come back to haunt. It always comes back to you. And it seems to come back at the times when you're trying to do the most with your life and change your life around."
The man said Fernandez had been hanging with a new group of friends and wanted to go back to school and get a job.
Recent posts on Fernandez's Facebook page showed selfies of him dressed to go to work.
Sisters Elencia Vigil and Saddie Vigil concurred with the man that Fernandez had had prior issues in juvenile court. But they called him a good person who made others happy and had a lot of friends.
"He was always there for everybody. People will remember him in good terms, not bad," Elencia Vigil said.
On Facebook, many of Fernandez's friends changed their profile pictures to a black ribbon to mourn the loss of their friend.
"Words can't express how I'm feeling right now. My heart is so broken. I can't believe (you're) gone, JJ," Tina Vigil wrote on her Facebook wall. "Just know I love (you and you're) in a better place now. I love (you) with all my heart. (You're) flying high with the angels now."
Contributing: Ladd Egan
