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SALT LAKE CITY — In an emotional resolution to two slayings done under what one prosecutor called "the gang code," a West Valley man begged for forgiveness from his victims' families as well as his own.
In one case, he found it. But in the other, the pain of a young woman's life cut short is too much to overcome.
At the time of the two killings and his 2012 arrest, Nitokalisi Niki Fonua said he was "arrogant, boastful and full of myself." While he says he has spent the years in jail thinking about his actions, Fonua acknowledged the changes in his life cannot restore the lives he took.
"There is nothing I have to offer to replace what was violently taken from you. All I have to offer is my words and my heart," Fonua said Monday, crediting a newfound faith in Jesus Christ for his change of heart and apologizing that the case has lingered so long in court.
Fonua, 33, pleaded guilty earlier this month to a reduced charge of manslaughter, a second-degree felony, in the 2009 shooting death of 22-year-old Krystal Flores, an innocent bystander who was gunned down as police say Fonua and others hunted rival gang members and stumbled drunk into the wrong house.
In the same hearing, charges were filed and Fonua pleaded guilty to manslaughter, a second-degree felony, in the 2007 killing of Viliami Latu, 34, who Fonua admitted to shooting when he went to the man's house to settle a debt. Fonua was identified in connection with the case four months later, but charges weren't filed.
Following the recommended sentence in the plea agreement, 3rd District Judge Randall Skanchy handed down the maximum available sentence: consecutive sentences of two to 20 years in prison for each of the two charges, both of which carries a weapon enhancement. He was given credit for the five years he has served in Salt Lake County Jail.
Speaking first in Spanish to Flores' family and then in Tongan to Latu's, Fonua apologized for taking the lives of their loved ones. In English, Fonua asked his own parents to forgive him for being a rebellious son who brought shame on the family that never stopped loving him.
Holding a picture of her son, Mele Latu told Fonua that she has forgiven him in the almost seven years since her happy but imperfect son was killed.
"I forgave Nik," Latu told the judge, then turned toward Fonua. "I love you Nik. I want you to have a chance for your kids and your wife. I love you as my own. I mean it."
As she left the courtroom, Mele Latu took Fonua's mother in her arms and together the two women wept. Fonua's mother did not speak Monday.
However Flores' mother, Estela Flores, told the judge in Spanish that she cannot find the same forgiveness for the man who killed her daughter.
"How can he ask me to forgive him when my daughter is gone?" Flores asked Skanchy. "I ask for more time. Not 40 years, but more time, because no one can return her to us."
Deputy Salt Lake County district attorney Vince Meister told the judge that Fonua's confession to the two killings was not a noble gesture, but a calculated effort to protect other members of the gang he believes Fonua was still loyal to as of Monday's hearing.
In regard to both shootings, Fonua has been careful not to implicate anyone else, insisting he was the only person responsible, Meister said. In the case of Flores' death, while Fonua says he went alone into the house where the woman was sleeping and fired the shot that killed her, Meister noted that evidence shows at least one other person was with him.
"I agree with Krystal's mother. Twenty years for one life is not enough. Forty years for two lives is not enough," Meister said, noting that was the most prosecutors believed they could secure in the plea deal.
Three other men are also still facing charges in Flores' killing.
Alexander Bloomfield, 35, and Pailate Lomu, 26, are charged with murder and aggravated burglary, first-degree felonies, in the death and have separate jury trials scheduled later this year.
Bloomfield is also charged with possession of a dangerous weapon by a restricted person, a second-degree felony. Court records indicate he rejected a plea offer from prosecutors last month.
George Angilau, 25, is facing first-degree felony charges of murder, aggravated burglary and discharge of a firearm, as well as third-degree felonies of discharging a firearm and discharging a firearm from a vehicle.
The latest item noted in the court docket is a sealed letter from Angilau filed last year. No upcoming hearings are scheduled in that case.
In a 2011 preliminary hearing for Bloomfield and Lomu, an ex-girlfriend of Bloomfield testified that tensions had been high between the gang her boyfriend at the time belonged to — the West Valley City-based Baby Regulators — and a rival predominantly Tongan gang based out of Glendale, the Tongan Crips.
On July 19, 2009, Fonua, Bloomfield, Lomu and Angilau headed out looking to retaliate at another party they had heard about in Salt Lake City, the woman said. According to charging documents, an armed Fonua headed into the home at 1309 S. Stewart St., but realized it was the wrong house.
Others in the home took cover in another room when two men burst in through the front door and gunfire rang out. They didn't witness the shooting but emerged to find Flores on the couch where she had been resting, wounded with a gunshot to the head. She died Aug. 2, 2009.
