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SALT LAKE CITY — "I'm dead."
That was the final text that the girlfriend of Benjamin Moncada Rivas received before he was shot multiple times in the back and killed, according to a newly released search warrant.
Police arrested Oscar Armando Carrillo Flores, 23, of Honduras, shortly after the shooting. He was charged with murder, a first-degree felony, plus seven other criminal charges.
On Aug. 3, Rivas was walking near 501 W. 200 South when another man walked up to him from behind, fired five to six shots, including shots in the back of Rivas' head, and then ran off, according to charging documents.
Court documents do not indicate exactly when the text message was sent to Rivas' girlfriend.
After the shooting, officers, who were already in the area, checked surveillance video from the homeless shelter and identified Flores, who was sitting with a group nearby trying to blend in, the charges state.
"A small black handgun was found directly behind the suspect on the other side of the wrought iron fence concealed under a red T-shirt. The suspect was sitting on a large amount of cash," according to a search warrant filed in 3rd District Court.
Police believe Flores also tried to hide his cellphone in another man's backpack, the warrant states.
Related:
Man arrested after fatal shooting in downtown Rio Grande area
A 32-year-old man is dead, and another man arrested, after a shooting in the Rio Grande area of Salt Lake City Thursday night.After interviewing him, Flores eventually told detectives that he shot Rivas "because the victim had threatened to kill him previously," the warrant states. Flores is living in the country illegally, the Department of Homeland Security stated in court documents. His next court date is scheduled for Oct. 16.
The warrant says Rivas was a known drug dealer around the Rio Grande area.
At the time, the killing caught the attention of city and state leaders because it was the third in the Rio Grande area in a little over a week.
In addition to murder, Flores, who is listed as a transient in court records, is also charged with five counts of discharge of a firearm resulting in serious injury, a first-degree felony; possession of a firearm by a restricted person, a second-degree felony; and obstruction of justice, a second-degree felony.
