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SOUTH SALT LAKE — The fourth person shot inside an SUV in South Salt Lake was released from a local hospital Monday and booked into the Salt Lake County Jail for investigation of killing the other three occupants.
Gerald Radckiff Grant, 19, whose last known address was in Miami, Florida, was booked into jail for investigation of three counts of aggravated murder.
Grant's arrest comes just two weeks after he entered into a plea deal for drugs and weapons charges, taking a plea in abeyance for drug possession with intent to distribute in exchange for two counts of possession of a firearm by a restricted person and possession of drug paraphernalia being dismissed, according to court records.
Those charges stemmed from a traffic stop in October when police found a rifle under the back seat, two loaded handguns under the front driver's seat and a third under the front passenger seat of the car Grant was driving, according to charging documents. Drugs, drug paraphernalia and 500 rounds of .22 ammunition were also found in the vehicle, the charges state.
Grant is listed in court documents as being homeless.
Armando Cuenca-Curiel, 17, of South Salt Lake, and brothers Raul Lopez, 19, and Angel Lopez, 20, of Salt Lake City, were all shot inside a Ford Explorer stopped in the middle of the road at 325 E. Park Creek Lane (3060 South).
Cuenca-Curiel was declared dead at the scene. The brothers died at local hospitals in the following days. All three were close friends.
Police believe the fourth man, who was shot in the thigh, got out of the SUV after the shootings, collapsed on a nearby yard, and was picked up by another vehicle. About 2 1/2 hours after the shooting, after allegedly being passed around to several cars, he was taken to a local hospital by another vehicle.
In his mug shot, Grant is wearing a hospital gown. He reportedly told a witness that he shot the other three victims, according to a Salt Lake County Jail report.
Two guns have been recovered by police, one inside the SUV and another in a yard near the SUV.
Police had not released Monday a possible motive for the shootings or what all four men were doing in the vehicle.
Cuenca-Curiel's family has stated that Armdano was not affiliated with a gang, and they believe he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Contributing: Sandra Yi
