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SALT LAKE CITY — A West Jordan man was charged Wednesday with shooting and killing another man during a Halloween party in a warehouse in Salt Lake City.
Roy Anthony Duran, 20, of West Jordan, is charged in 3rd District Court with murder, a first-degree felony; plus being a restricted person in possession of a firearm and obstructing justice, second-degree felonies.
On Oct. 24, a Halloween party was being held in a warehouse at 548 W. 600 South. At 1:21 a.m. Salt Lake police were dispatched to the structure on a report of a fight that resulted in a man being shot in the head.
Isaiah Valerio, 21, was found lying on the loading dock outside the building. He was pronounced dead shortly after emergency crews arrived, according to charging documents.
At the scene, police recovered a spent shell casing, a bullet and an Atlanta Braves baseball cap. Detectives also found cellphone video recorded by a person attending the party that showed Duran wearing a Braves hat, the charges state.
Witnesses told police that Duran had been "attempting to fight partygoers" and had lifted his shirt several times to show that he had a gun tucked in his waistband, the charges say. He then allegedly punched Valerio in the face.
One girl told investigators that Duran had actually taken a swing at another person at the party and missed and hit Valerio, who was holding a beer and not provoking Duran.
"When others observed this, they immediately jumped Duran for punching Isaiah," according to the charges.
Duran then pulled out his gun and racked the slide, prompting others to run. One witness said Duran then focused his attention on Valerio.
During the scuffle, the girl told police she was also punched in the stomach and was bent over in pain and said Valerio had leaned over to make sure she was OK.
"As Isaiah was standing back up, Duran approached him and fired his gun at Isaiah's face," according to the charging documents.
Duran fled the scene before police arrived. After releasing a picture of Duran to the public in an effort to find him, Duran turned himself in to police two days later.
Duran was previously convicted of being a restricted person in possession of a firearm in December 2019. He was given a suspended prison sentence and placed on three years of probation, according to court records. He was released from supervised probation in May after successfully completing the conditions of his probation, according to a progress report from Adult Probation and Parole submitted to 2nd District Court.
