SALT LAKE CITY — Prosecutors have formally charged a parolee accused of fatally shooting his girlfriend, crashing the car they were in on I-80, and then tossing parts of a gun from an overpass in May.
Terence Trent Vos, 31, faces a charge of aggravated murder, a first-degree felony and capital offense, in the death of Shandon Nicole Scott, 32.
Troopers arrived at the scene of the crash just before 3 a.m. on May 1 to find Vos "running around the vehicle" and noted he "would not calm down," according to charging documents filed Monday. Detectives found the wounded Scott in the car and spotted her ID, purse and credit cards scattered along the side of the freeway.
An autopsy found Scott had been shot 12 times, including in the heart and right lung. At a vigil after her death, friends of Scott described Vos as abusive toward her.
No attorney was listed for Vos in court records as of Monday. He's being held in the Utah State Prison.
While police were attempting to revive Scott, Vos ran away and was apprehended a short time later, prosecutors say. He allegedly told police his girlfriend "had been shot and he was trying to take her to the hospital." He showed officers where the shooting happened, pointed out a shell casing and a pool of blood, and said he couldn't remember what he'd done with the gun, the charges say.
Another driver who saw the crashed car and pulled over to help told police he had seen Vos get out of the car and start "running all over the place while saying that they got shot." Vos threw something over the freeway wall, according to the driver, and unsuccessfully tried to take his car.
Vos is a former Public Enemy No. 1 of the Salt Lake Metro Gang Unit. He has been arrested in the past in several shootings in Salt Lake City, and was twice convicted of discharging a gun from the freeway in 2006.
Vos was granted parole last year, but a warrant was issued for his arrest on Feb. 3, according to records from the Utah Board of Pardons and Parole.
Prosecutors have requested he be held without bail, saying he's a flight risk and danger to the public. They have not indicated whether Vos wrecked the vehicle on purpose.
Unified police have said Scott was shot at a townhome complex at 700 East and 2700 South just moments before police responded to the crash.
Neighbors reported hearing pounding about 2:45 a.m. and hearing a man and woman fighting, with the woman screaming and pleading with someone not to hurt her before gunshots rang out, the charges say.
Later, in a phone call he made from jail, Vos mentioned having a fight with someone before saying "I don't even know what it was over" and "I just shot her," prosecutors allege. Vos also said during the call he'd lied to police about "a man he knew shooting Shandon," the charges say.
A woman who lives next to the freeway where the car crashed in South Salt Lake told detectives she awoke to her dogs barking about 3:30 a.m. that day. Later in the morning, she found parts of a gun in her driveway — including a frame, magazine and three cartridges — charges state.
Anyone who is a victim of domestic violence or knows of a victim in Salt Lake City is encouraged to call police at 801-799-3000 and ask to speak with a victim advocate or call a 24-hour hotline at 801-580-7969.
The National Domestic Violence Hotline is 1-800-799-7233 or the Utah LINKLine at 1-800-897-5465 for confidential assistance.
Domestic violence resources
Help for people in abusive relationships can be found by contacting:
- Utah Domestic Violence Coalition: Utah's confidential statewide, 24-hour domestic violence hotline at 1-800-897-LINK (5465)
- YWCA Women in Jeopardy program: 801-537-8600
- Utah's statewide child abuse and neglect hotline: 1-855-323-DCFS (3237)
- National Domestic Violence Hotline: 1-800-799-7233
