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SALT LAKE CITY — Two people, including a 16-year-old boy, have been charged with murder in connection with the fatal drive-by shooting of a woman who was sitting on her couch.
Koak Pal Biel, 16, of Kearns, and Euziel De La Torre, 20, of West Jordan, were charged Thursday in 3rd District Court with murder, a first-degree felony, and six counts of discharge of a firearm, a third-degree felony. De La Torre received an additional charge of obstruction, a second-degree felony.
On July 10, Jawnie Wey, 48, was inside a residence at 4929 S. 1950 West when she was shot in the head during a drive-by shooting that sent bullets spraying through a window. She was on a couch in the front room of the home, according to charging documents. She died nine days later.
"Ms. Wey's 13-year-old daughter … stated that she was sitting next to her mother on the couch positioned against the front window. (She) stated she heard gunshots from outside and saw bullets entering the house around her. (She) stated she got down onto the floor," the charges state.
When the shooting stopped, the young girl saw her mother injured on the couch, according to court documents.
Unified police recovered seven .40-caliber shell casings at the scene. There were also two nearby residences with surveillance video, the charges state.
Unified police detectives learned that Wey's nephew had been in a feud with De La Torre and another man over the alleged theft of a French bulldog, according to court documents. A French bulldog was found in the nephew's backyard, the same residence where Wey was shot, the charges state.
De La Torre had contacted the nephew and "threatened to put his 'house on the news,'" the charges state. The other man with De La Torre also threatened the nephew's "whole family" if the dog was not returned, according to court documents.
Investigators believe there were four people in the car that shot at Wey, according to court documents. De La Torre was driving, and "handed Biel the gun and told Biel to shoot at the house," the charges state.
The two others who were believed to be in the car during the incident have been interviewed by police but not arrested as of Sunday.
De La Torre also faces charges in connection with another violent episode.
De La Torre, along with Keyshon Malik Felder, 21, and Juan Cruz Castruita-Lopez, 20, were each charged in 3rd District Court on July 26 with aggravated robbery, two counts of aggravated kidnapping, and aggravated assault, all first-degree felonies. They were also charged with aggravated assault, a second-degree felony.
The three are accused of taking two men hostage whom they believed had stolen drugs from them, including tying him to camping chair naked and beating one man in the face "with the buttstock of an AR-style .22-caliber rifle," putting the barrel of the gun in the man's mouth and pouring motor oil over his head. The victim has had three surgeries to try and reattach a retina in his eye.
