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SALT LAKE CITY — A third man has pleaded guilty to killing an innocent bystander as she slept after they stumbled into the wrong house searching for rival gang members.
Alexander Bloomfield, 35, pleaded guilty Friday to criminal homicide by assault, reduced to a third-degree felony, in the 2009 shooting death of 22-year-old Krystal Flores. He also admitted to felony discharge of a firearm, a third-degree felony, and attempted burglary, reduced to a third-degree felony.
Bloomfield, along with four others, was originally charged with murder, a first-degree felony.
In exchange for Bloomfield's plea, prosecutors will recommend consecutive sentences for the charges, which each carry a potential sentence of up to five years in prison, and credit for the time he has served so far.
Sentencing for Bloomfield is scheduled for Sept 23.
Three others — Nitokalisi Niki Fonua, 33; Pailate Lomu, 27; and George Angilau, 26 — were also implicated in the shooting.
In a 2011 preliminary hearing for Bloomfield and Lomu, an ex-girlfriend of Bloomfield testified that tensions had been high in July 2009 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.
Related
Police: Murdered woman was an innocent victim
Krystal Flores died in the gang-related shooting, and now police want the public to know that she was an innocent victim. It's a clarification that's been a long time coming, according to Krystal's older brother, Roberto Flores.Lomu pleaded guilty in May to manslaughter and burglary, with both charges reduced to second-degree felonies. He was sentenced July 19 to concurrent terms of two to 20 years in prison, with a weapons enhancement. That sentence will run consecutively to other prison sentences he is already serving.
Fonua pleaded guilty in April to a reduced charge of manslaughter, a second-degree felony, in Flores' death. 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.
Fonua was sentenced later that month to consecutive sentences of two to 20 years in prison for each of the two charges, with a weapons enhancement. He was given credit for the five years he has served in the Salt Lake County Jail.
The case against Angilau is ongoing. Nothing had appeared in court records in the case since a sealed letter from Angilau was filed last year. On Friday a scheduling conference was scheduled for Oct. 3.
Angilau is charged with first-degree felony charges of murder, aggravated burglary and felony discharge of a firearm, as well as third-degree felonies of discharging a firearm and discharging a firearm from a vehicle.
