3 arrested in weekend killing in Salt Lake City

3 arrested in weekend killing in Salt Lake City

(Alan Lucchetti, KSL TV)


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SALT LAKE CITY — Salt Lake police continued Monday to look for additional suspects believed to be involved in a weekend killing.

Mason Hunt, 26, of Salt Lake City, was shot and killed after confronting a group that had broken into a house to steal drugs, according to police. Colton James Beed, 20, of West Valley City, was arrested for investigation of murder, two counts of aggravated burglary and obstructing justice.

On Monday, Salt Lake police announced the arrest of Chase Anthony Chavira, 20, and a 16-year-old boy for investigation of murder and two counts of aggravated burglary. The juvenile, whose name was not released, was booked into juvenile detention.

Just after 8 p.m. Saturday, police say Beed and others planned to commit a home invasion robbery at 359 N. Star Crest Drive (1840 West). Beed entered the house wearing a ski mask and latex gloves "while others were placed in charge of carrying firearms and utilized as lookouts," a police report states.

"Chase admitted that if he observed law enforcement or other citizens that he would make a call to the individuals inside the residence committing the burglary and warn them to get out," another police report states. A resident inside the house hid in the bathroom and "attempted to call 911 for help but could not get through," according to the report.

Salt Lake Police Sgt. Brandon Shearer said Monday that investigators had not verified that the person actually tried to call 911, or if there was a problem that prevented the call from getting through.

The person inside the home then called Hunt, who also lived in the residence. Schearer said several people rent rooms in the house. Hunt's room was not the one targeted by intruders, he said.

Beed and his group initially drove away from the house, but then decided to return and steal more items, according to the report. Hunt arrived while the suspects were still there and confronted them outside the house.

Hunt was hit "over the head" with a rifle and then shot, according to police. Investigators have not said whether he was shot with the same weapon he was hit with or if there were multiple weapons involved.

Police later arrested Beed.

In 2017, Beed pleaded guilty to assault. It was dismissed a year later as part of a plea deal after he successfully completed the terms of his probation. He received psychiatric treatment at that time, according to court records.

Schearer said Monday that detectives were still looking for "multiple" people but couldn't say exactly how many.


Correction: An earlier version misspelled Salt Lake Police Sgt. Brandon Shearer's name as Schearer.

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Pat Reavy is a longtime police and courts reporter. He joined the KSL.com team in 2021, after many years of reporting at the Deseret News and KSL NewsRadio before that.

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