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SPRINGVILLE — Police on Monday identified a man who was shot and killed Sunday in Springville and made one arrest in connection to the death.
The body of Lazaro A. Nieves, 29, of Springville, was found in a neighborhood in the area of 1600 South and state Route 89, where Springville police responded to reports of shots fired early Sunday morning, police said.
“Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family at this time,” Springville police said via Twitter.
Victor Hugo Contreras-Nathanson, 25, of Payson, was arrested Monday on investigation of murder and obstruction of justice, according to a probable cause statement. He was booked into Utah County Jail with bail set at $250,000.
In the probable cause statement, police refer to Nieves as Lazaro Morales. In the report, they state his body was found near what appeared to be freshly painted white graffiti.
During the investigation, police learned Nieves had been seen with Contreras-Nathanson before his death, the affidavit states.
Police tracked down Contreras-Nathanson in Spanish Fork where his neighbors said Contreras-Nathanson had them clean his car the previous day, and it had taken “several hours to clean white paint from the passenger’s side of the vehicle,” the probable cause affidavit states.
Contreras-Nathanson told police he spent most of Sunday with Nieves at Nieves’ residence, but he couldn’t remember much since he smoked cocaine, methamphetamine and drank alcohol, the police affidavit states.
When police asked Contreras-Nathanson if it was possible he could’ve shot Nieves, he “indicated it was possible,” the affidavit states.
“Photographs of tire marks, taken at the scene where (Nieves) was found, matched the tires on Contreras' maroon Nissan,” police wrote in the affidavit. “The tire marks at the scene where Contreras was found were made in white paint. (Contreras’) tires on the passenger side of his car had white paint in the tread and on the side walls.”
Contreras-Nathanson has no criminal history in the state of Utah, police stated in the affidavit.
Editor's note: An earlier version of this story said Contreras-Nathanson was booked into Salt Lake County Jail. This story has been updated to state the correct jail he was booked into.
