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SALT LAKE CITY -- A man charged with shooting and killing another man in what police say was a drug deal gone bad was apparently high and afraid his life was in jeopardy when he fired the shots.
Kenneth Lewellyn Flowers, 33, was charged Tuesday in 3rd District Court with murder, a first-degree felony, and possession of a firearm by a restricted person, a third-degree felony.
Police found Flowers on Saturday outside an apartment at 1810 S. Main where Cisco Montanez Cross, 45, of Herriman was lying face-down, dead from a .22-caliber gunshot wound to the chest, according to court documents.
One witness told police he was arguing with Cross when he heard gunshots coming over his shoulder from Flowers' direction. Another witness said she heard shots as she entered the apartment and saw Flowers pointing a gun at Cross, the charges state.
Flowers told police Cross pulled up his shirt and displayed a gun as two people entered the apartment. He claimed he fired in self-defense because he believed Cross "had set him up and the people were going to kill him," according to a police report. Witnesses told police Cross was holding nothing but a bottle of alcohol.
Flowers said he had "been smoking a lot of crack" in the day leading up to incident.
The man who owned the apartment told police that he did not see or hear anyone else enter his apartment, but said there was music playing and that his back was to the door.
He reported that he could see Cross' hands and that Cross "may have been holding a bottle of alcohol, but nothing else."
Police originally said the shooting was related to an argument over a card game, but police later said the incident was actually sparked by a drug deal gone wrong.
Flowers told officers he had been smoking crack in the apartment for the past 24 hours, the report states.
He is being held in the Salt Lake County Jail on $1 million bail.
According to the charges, Flowers has been deported to Belize twice. He is in the country illegally.
Story compiled with contributions from Emiley Morgan and Paul Koepp
