Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
SALT LAKE CITY — A man who police say was with a gunman who shot and killed another man during a drug deal in February has now been charged in connection with the crime.
Edgar Noel Aguilar, 20, of Kearns, was charged Thursday in 3rd District Court with obstructing justice, a second-degree felony.
On Feb. 5, Manuel Andres Martinez, 20, arranged to buy a pound of THC dab from Ian Cameron Reddick, of West Valley City, who is also known as Ian Knighton, according to charging documents. With Aguilar in the driver's seat and Reddick in the front passenger seat, Martinez got in the back seat to conduct the drug deal, the charges state.
After his arrest, Reddick claimed there was a gun in Aguilar's car between the driver's seat and the center console that Martinez tried to grab, according to the charges. That led to a struggle over the gun between Reddick and Martinez. Reddick wrestled the gun away from Martinez and shot him multiple times, charging documents state.
Reddick then pulled Martinez's body out of the back seat and left it on the road, in the 6400 block of Wakefield Way, and he and Aguilar drove away.
Reddick, 19, was tracked down by U.S. Marshals and arrested in Texas about two weeks later. In March, he was charged in 3rd District Court with murder, aggravated robbery and obstructing justice. His next court hearing is scheduled for March 12.
More than a month after the shooting, Aguilar was also arrested for investigation of obstruction of justice. But formal charges were not filed.
On July 6, Unified police responded to a drive-by shooting in Kearns, according to charging documents. A total of 21 shell casings were collected from the road and two vehicles were shot, the charges state.
When police knocked on the door to tell the residents what had happened, Aguilar answered.
"Aguilar explained he had just been released from jail and since his release there had been a black BMW driving by his house often," the charges state.
He then said he was driving the night his friend, Reddick, "killed a person during a drug deal," according to the charges.
"He believed this shooting may be connected to that case and that the victim's friends might be retaliating against him," the charges state.
Aguilar was recently charged on Nov. 10 in Summit County's 3rd District Court with possession of a firearm by a restricted person, drug possession and possession of drug paraphernalia. In that case, he was pulled over on Oct. 28 and police found "a semiautomatic handgun, marijuana and paraphernalia" in his car, according to charging documents.
Also in February, Reddick's girlfriend, Sisara Marlene Contreras, 21, of Salt Lake City, was charged with obstructing justice. According to charging documents, she helped drive Reddick to Texas where both of them were found by Marshals in a hotel room. A preliminary hearing for Contreras was scheduled for April.
