Man charged with 2 Magna killings from 2015


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MAGNA — Criminal charges were filed Monday in two Magna killings more than a year ago that police have long believed are connected.

Brandon Beau Warren, 25, was charged in 3rd District Court with murder in the August 2015 death of Stevan Chambers, 26. He was also charged with murdering Shelli Marie Brown, 26, two days later. Both murder charges are first-degree felonies.

Warren was also charged with 11 counts of discharging a firearm — four first-degree felonies, one second-degree felony and six third-degree felonies. An arrest warrant was issued for Warren, who court documents indicate is currently a patient at the Utah State Hospital.

Court documents do not list an address for Warren.

Ballistics confirmed Chambers and Brown were shot to death with the same .380 caliber handgun, charges state. CBC brand shell casings found at both scenes, as well as at a scene where shots were fired days earlier, were also a match.

Chambers' body was discovered with four gunshot wounds, including a fatal shot to the head, in the road near 8990 W. 2900 South in the early hours of Aug. 17, 2015. Brown was found with three gunshot wounds, including in her head and mouth, in the nearby Magna Copper Park, 8941 W. 2600 South, on Aug. 19, 2015. Police said in the weeks that followed that the shootings were likely related.

Witnesses told police that on the night he was killed, Chambers was held in a garage and was "confronted by several people." Chambers left the garage about 2 a.m. and was followed by Warren and a woman, who he was later seen arguing with near the Magna library, according to police.

Brandon Beau Warren, 25. (Photo: Salt Lake County Jail)
Brandon Beau Warren, 25. (Photo: Salt Lake County Jail)

During the argument, the woman told investigators she "said something to Warren about how he should stand up for her," charging documents state.

According to two search warrants unsealed a month after the killings, a woman claimed that Chambers drugged and assaulted her on the morning of Aug. 15, 2015, and by that night, Chambers was being "held against his will" in a garage by others "for the purpose of questioning Stevan about (the woman's) accusations."

The search warrant also indicates that Warren had dated Brown prior to her death.

Police found two bags with Brown's body when it was discovered on the park bleachers. In one of those bags was a partially consumed sports drink which had Warren's fingerprints on the bottle, according to the charges. The rim of the bottle revealed both Warren's and Brown's DNA, the charges state.

A man who lives near the park reported hearing gunshots in the early hours of Aug. 19, 2015, and as he drove past a field that borders the park where Brown's body was found, he saw a man emerge who appeared to be breathing hard and attempting to hide something behind his back, charges state.

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The witness told police the man was 5 feet 8 inches tall with short brown hair, a goatee and a mustache, and tattoos on his arms and chest. Charging documents indicate Warren is 5 feet 9 inches tall with tattoos on his arms, chest and legs.

Another man told police that on Aug. 15, 2015, he was leaving a bar on Main Street in Magna when he saw Chambers across the street with a man wearing a black and yellow jacket. When he refused Chambers' calls to come over to them, the man said he heard about six shots ring out, charges state.

The man said he charged toward the man in the yellow jacket, who ran. Chambers then stopped him from continuing to chase him, charging documents state. Police found six CBC .380-caliber shell casings at the scene later determined to match the gun used to shoot Chambers and Brown. Police found a yellow and black shirt in Warren's motor home, though the charges don't mention when the search was conducted.

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McKenzie Romero

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