Man charged with 3 aggravated murders ordered to stand trial

Man charged with 3 aggravated murders ordered to stand trial

(Francisco Kjolseth)


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SALT LAKE CITY — At the close of a four-day preliminary hearing, a 20-year-old man was ordered Thursday to stand trial for triple aggravated murder.

Gerald Radckiff 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 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.

However, according to amended charges filed Friday against Mahad Omar, 21, Grant was part of a plan with Omar to arrange to buy marijuana from the three victims, then rob them.

Omar, who had been ordered to stand trial for obstructing justice in the case, is now facing three counts of first-degree felony murder based on text messages he exchanged with Grant allegedly discussing the robbery plan.

Omar told police that Grant got into a Ford Explorer with the three men at 283 E. 3300 South, and that he and another man, Isaac 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 located Grant near 325 E. Park Creek Lane (3060 South), Grant said he had pulled out his gun and one of the men in the SUV had shot him in the leg, charges state. 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.

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. 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.

A pretrial conference for Grant is scheduled for Oct. 24. A preliminary hearing will be scheduled for the new charges filed against Omar, who is set to be arraigned Monday for allegedly obstructing justice in the shooting.

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