Friend describes night that turned deadly for 20-year-old charged with triple aggravated murder

Friend describes night that turned deadly for 20-year-old charged with triple aggravated murder

(Francisco Kjolseth)


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SALT LAKE CITY — Gerald Radckiff Grant had plans on the night he shot and killed three people after he was shot in the leg.

The then-19-year-old was expecting a visit from his girlfriend and was meeting up with a group at a friend's house, Isaac Gbaway testified during a preliminary hearing Tuesday.

"We were cooking. We were supposed to have a movie night," Gbaway said. Asked how he knew Grant, Gbaway called him "my brother slash best friend."

Before the evening got started on Feb. 18, Grant, who didn't have a car, asked Gbaway for what his friend thought would be a quick ride to a hookah lounge. There, they met another man, Mahad Omar, 21, and drove to a South Salt Lake smoke shop where Grant got into an SUV with three other people.

After waiting for a few minutes, Omar put a call from Grant on speakerphone.

"The first thing he said was, 'I've been shot,'" Gbaway recalled.

Grant, 20, is charged with three counts of first-degree felony aggravated murder in the shooting deaths of brothers Angel Lopez-Salinas, 20, and Lauro "Raul" Lopez-Salinas, 19, as well as their friend, Armando Cuenca-Curiel, 17. He is also charged with obstructing justice, a second-degree felony, and prosecutors amended charges Friday to include a count of aggravated robbery, a third-degree felony.

Grant was shot in the leg during the incident and has claimed he shot the men in self-defense after they tried to rob him, according to a search warrant affidavit. He is two days into a four-day preliminary hearing where a judge will determine whether the case goes to trial.

The Lopez-Salinas brothers and Cuenca-Curiel were shot in a Ford Explorer found with the engine revving and smoking in the middle of the road at 325 E. Park Creek Lane (3060 South). Neighbors testified Monday about coming out of their homes to help what they believed was a driver with car troubles, only to stumble into the crime scene.

Omar, who had been ordered to stand trial for obstructing justice in the case, is now facing three counts of first-degree felony murder after prosecutors amended the charges against him Friday. According to the charges, Omar had arranged for Grant to purchase marijuana from Cuenca-Curiel, intending for the meeting to actually be a "lick," or a drug-related robbery.

The four-day preliminary hearing begins for Gerald R. Grant, a 19-year-old Florida man charged with shooting and killing three people inside an SUV in February in South Salt Lake. Grant appeared at the Matheson Courthouse in Salt Lake City on Monday, Aug. 22, 2016, before judge James Blanch. (Photo: Francisco Kjolseth)
The four-day preliminary hearing begins for Gerald R. Grant, a 19-year-old Florida man charged with shooting and killing three people inside an SUV in February in South Salt Lake. Grant appeared at the Matheson Courthouse in Salt Lake City on Monday, Aug. 22, 2016, before judge James Blanch. (Photo: Francisco Kjolseth)

Omar told police that Grant got into the Explorer with the three men at 283 E. 3300 South, and that he and Gbaway intended to follow the SUV, charges state. They lost sight of the vehicle, however, and Grant called a few minutes later saying he had been shot and needed to be picked up.

When they picked up Grant, Omar said he told them he had pulled out his gun and one of the men in the SUV had shot him in the leg. Grant then shot all three of the men, Omar told police.

Wanting to distance himself from the situation, Gbaway dropped off Grant and Omar. Grant's girlfriend eventually picked him up in a Mercedes and drove him to University Hospital two hours later, court documents say.

Charging documents say the driver, Angel Lopez-Salinas, suffered gunshot wounds to the head and right bicep. His younger brother, Raul, was shot in the head in the back seat. Cuenca-Curiel, found in the cargo area, was shot in the chest. He died at the scene, and the brothers died in the following days.

Grant's preliminary hearing resumes Wednesday.

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McKenzie Romero

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