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SALT LAKE CITY — Criminal charges were filed Friday against a man who police say shot and killed a woman on a busy Salt Lake street.
Timothy Vaughn, 27, whose address is listed as the Salt Lake homeless shelter, is charged in 3rd District Court with murder, a first-degree felony, plus theft by receiving stolen property and possession of a firearm by a restricted person, second-degree felonies.
On Aug. 15, Alicia Baxter, 33, was shot on the sidewalk near the corner of 800 W. North Temple. She was taken to a local hospital were she was declared dead from a gunshot wound to her head.
The shooting happened about 5 p.m. in an area typically busy with restaurantgoers.
Vaughn was selling soda to “get back to Park City,” according to charging documents. A woman said she saw Vaughn and Baxter arguing on the corner in front of the Wenerschnitzel.
“She witnessed Tim pull a gun from his waistband and shoot Alicia,” the charges state.
The sodas that Vaughn were selling were purchased at Rancho Market. Salt Lake police identified Vaughn by going to Rancho, reviewing surveillance video and the food card he used to buy the items, according to charging documents.
Another witness who was standing near Vaughn at the time of the shooting said Vaughn had come up to him and asked if he wanted to buy a stolen gun, the charges state.
Police say Vaughn walked away from the scene after the killing, got on a TRAX train, changed trains multiple times, and took off his outer layer of clothing.
When Salt Lake police caught up with Vaughn, he was already in the Utah County Jail.
On Aug. 17 — two days after the shooting in Salt Lake City — Vaughn got into a fight with another man in the parking lot of the Provo Towne Centre Mall, according to charging documents. Vaughn was riding a bicycle and claimed he was almost hit by a minivan that ran a stop sign. Vaughn followed the minivan and confronted the driver when he stopped, the charges state.
Related
Police identify woman killed in Salt Lake shooting
Police on Friday released the name of a woman who was shot and killed Thursday afternoon.The minivan driver attempted to defend himself from Vaughn who pulled out a knife, the charges state. When police took Vaughn into custody, they reported finding a handgun and ammunition in his backpack.
Vaughn was charged in 4th District Court for that incident with theft by receiving stolen property, a second-degree felony; aggravated assault and possession of a firearm by a restricted person, third-degree felonies; and possession of a dangerous weapon by a restricted person, a class A misdemeanor.
He was also charged in April with threatening a man in Park City with a knife, according to court documents, Vaughn was charged with aggravated assault, a third-degree felony. In that case, Vaughn claimed the victim was having thoughts of raping him even though the man did not say a word to Vaughn, the charges say. Vaughn said he told the man to stop.
Vaughn told police he lives “in the mountains” in Park City and the gun used in the killing was stolen out of a car in Park City.
He was convicted in 2014 in San Antonio, Texas, for burglary, according to court documents.
