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MURRAY — One of two men suspected of being involved in the fatal shooting of a Lee Mart store employee has been arrested.
Alexis Alan Garcia, who turned 20 on Tuesday, was arrested just after 6 p.m. Tuesday at a house in South Salt Lake, said Murray police detective Kenny Bass.
"Our investigators received a lot of tips through the public. Information was gathered through the tips, and fingerprint evidence was gathered at the scene," he said.
"Garcia's fingerprints were compared to those recovered at the Utah State Crime Lab and confirmed to be Garcia's," a Salt Lake County Jail report states. "Garcia had tattoos on his hands as seen in the surveillance video."
That information led police to the house in South Salt Lake where a SWAT team was used to serve a warrant, Bass said. Garcia was found in his room. Detectives took him to police headquarters where he was questioned before being booked into jail, Bass said.
Also recovered in the room were .22-caliber rounds as well as clothing he is believed to have worn during the robbery, according to the report.
Garcia is accused of being one of two men who entered the Lee Mart convenience store, 5909 S. 700 West, early on the morning of March 18 and robbed longtime worker David Marsh, 62, at gunpoint.
Surveillance video shows the men were dressed in black hoodies and wore red bandanas over their faces.
After the duo took an undisclosed amount of money, Marsh is seen on the video throwing the empty register tray at one of the robbers as they ran out the door. One of the men reacted by turning and firing a .22 handgun, hitting the popular store worker. Marsh died five days later.
One of the two suspects wore gloves, the report states. In the surveillance video, a man wearing gloves is the last person running out of the store, and the one that is hit with the cash tray thrown by Marsh.
Bass did not immediately know whether Garcia was the man who allegedly fired the fatal shot. He said the investigation into identifying and arresting the second suspect was ongoing Wednesday.
He said while the arrest was a "big step in the investigation," there is still a lot of work left to do in the case.
Garcia was booked into the Salt Lake County Jail for investigation of murder and aggravated robbery as well as several outstanding warrants.
According to court records, Garcia, who has the nickname "Alexis Vicious," was charged in 2014 in Salt Lake City Justice Court with making a threat with a weapon and disturbing the peace. A warrant for his arrest was issued in August for failing to appear in court on those charges.
In 2013, Garcia was charged in 3rd District Court with aggravated assault and possession of dangerous weapon by a restricted person after allegedly threatening a man with a knife and telling him "he was going to pay for what they did to him," according to court records. The case was dismissed, however, in July of 2013 based on a state motion when prosecutors were unable to move forward.
Garcia also had a record in juvenile court. He was convicted of aggravated assault with a weapon in 2009 for an incident in West Valley City, according to court records. Less than a month later he was arrested again by Salt Lake police for possession of a dangerous weapon by a minor and later convicted, court records state.
At the Lee Mart on Wednesday, both the store owner and patrons were pleased to hear an arrest was made.
"I think it's awesome. I think it's really cool," said customer Aney, who declined to give her last name. "We've all been nervous in the neighborhood."
Aney said she often visited Marsh in the store and would talk to him.
"David was the only one left in my life. I could come over here and cry to and he'd hold my hand," she said. "He's just a good man and I'm glad that something finally happened."
Contributing: Paul Nelson
