OGDEN — Members of an Ogden family said Tuesday they are planning legal action over a loved one’s murder at the Utah State Prison, which they maintain could have been prevented with closer supervision and swifter intervention.

“I just want justice — I mean, I just want the ones that were involved held accountable,” said Juanita Martinez, standing near the grave where her son, Jeffrey Vigil, is buried at the Ogden City Cemetery.

The then-24-year-old Vigil was found unconscious and bleeding heavily when prison staff reached him in March, according to the family and 911 calls obtained by KSL.

Court records say that Vigil had been punched, stabbed multiple times and choked, and that his head had been kicked and stomped on over 70 times after he was rendered unconscious.

“How they say they left my son is, I can’t … it’s too hard to even grasp,” Martinez said.

Ramon Luis Rivera, 30, and Albert Collin Fernandez, 38, were subsequently charged with murder, among other counts, in connection with the death, which was described in charging documents as a gang-related killing with Vigil a member of a rival gang.

Attorney Emily Swenson, who was retained by Vigil’s family, said she planned to file a lawsuit against the prison by the first of next week.

“We do know the assault happened for a very long time before any prison guard even acknowledged it,” Swenson said. “We also do know that several minutes elapsed with Jeffrey basically bleeding out with his head hemorrhaging before any officer went in to stop the fight.”

Court records suggest one of the men may have even had time to change or clean his clothes after the attack.

“Officers reported smelling a strong odor of bleach in Fernandez’s cell directly after this incident,” Fernandez’ charging document stated. “Officers noticed Fernandez had removed his shirt and shoes and that Fernandez’s shirt and shoes were bright white and smelled of bleach.”

Swenson said medical attention also came very slowly afterward.

“We know at least an hour elapsed from the initial assault to when Jeffrey arrived at the hospital — that response time is unheard of,” Swenson said.

911 calls

Swenson said two 911 calls placed from the prison further illustrate problems with the response.

In the audio of the first call, which was obtained by KSL through a public records request, a prison worker quickly disconnected after a short conversation with the dispatcher.

“You know what, I had information at first that the guy was not breathing. I’m hearing that he’s breathing right now, so let me get a better assessment and I’ll call you right back,” the worker said. “Because I don’t know for sure that this is something that needs to go.”

In the audio of the second call, which dispatchers confirmed was placed five minutes later, the worker painted a grim picture.

“One of them is bleeding, has quite a bit of bleeding from his upper torso it sounds like,” the worker said.

Swenson said inmate accounts indicated Vigil was lying in a pool of blood at the time.

“It’s outrageous that you could call off 911 in that type of scenario,” Swenson said.

Swenson said she had received no clarification from the prison on the circumstances of the response.

In recent months, KSL also reached out multiple times to the Utah Department of Corrections for more information about the circumstances of the killing, the response and whether there were any consequences or changes in procedure after what took place.

Corrections spokeswoman Brooke Adams at those times declined to comment further, citing the pending court cases related to Vigil’s death.

The latest attempt to gain comment from the prison resulted in a similar response Tuesday.

Martinez said she hoped those answers would ultimately come to light.

“Why didn’t they stop it? You know, why didn’t they do something?” Martinez questioned. “We’re their family and we shouldn’t have to worry about them ever coming home. They should be protected.”

Other concerns

Swenson said family members were also concerned when they traveled to Salt Lake City for a preliminary hearing for Fernandez last week and learned that prosecutors had apparently offered him a plea deal in exchange for a lesser charge.

“We are very upset with how this has been handled,” Swenson said. “Obviously the family is adamant that should not happen at this point. They do not want that to happen.”

When contacted about that matter late Tuesday afternoon, Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill said prosecution of the case was continuing and that no final decisions had been made.

A third suspect?

Swenson also said through her own investigation she believed the gang-related killing was perpetrated under the direction of a “shot-caller.”

She said she planned to refer her findings to prosecutors.

“We’re getting our information through other inmates that witnessed it, other people in other sections. We’re getting it secondhand through other people,” Swenson said. “We have put together a package of materials that we want the county attorney in Salt Lake to consider to bring charges against that third person that we believe was a shot-caller that called this fight.”

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