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 Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information.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.
WEST VALLEY CITY — A man accused of assaulting another man more than a year ago, including pushing him down a flight of stairs, has been charged in connection with the man's death.
Diego Antunez, 23, of West Valley, was charged Wednesday in 3rd District Court with manslaughter, a second-degree felony; witness tampering, a third-degree felony; and solicitation to committing witness tampering, a class A misdemeanor.
On Jan. 17, 2021, about 4:45 a.m., West Valley police were called to an apartment near 2900 South and 2400 West on a report of a man not breathing. Officers found Marco Antonio Magana, 21, who, despite lifesaving efforts, died at the scene.
Antunez, who was the person who called 911, told police that "they were drinking alcohol and that he found Marco standing up, hunched over at the bottom of the stairs of a four-level apartment complex," according to a police booking affidavit.
He further told police that he helped Magana back to his apartment, put him on the floor with a pillow and blanket and when he checked on him several hours later, Magana wasn't breathing, according to the charges.
Initially, no marks or bruising were found on Magana's body. But an autopsy by the Utah State Medical Examiner's Office "showed that Marco's cause of death was blunt force trauma to his head, which caused a large fracture on the skull area, resulting in a brain bleed," the affidavit states.
Detectives interviewed others who were at the apartment that night. They told police that the two men had been arguing and Magana "walked out of the apartment to get away from Antunez," but Antunez followed him outside, the charges state.
Magana then tried to protect himself "while Antunez was repeatedly hitting him," according to the charges. As the fight moved closer to the stairwell, "Marco pleaded for Antunez to stop."
Antunez then kicked Magana down the stairs, causing him to hit his head on the cement platform at the bottom, the charges state.
After police arrived at the apartment, Antunez contacted others who were at the party and "both explicitly and implicitly told them what they should and should not tell detectives about what had occurred at the apartment," according to the charges. He also told witnesses to contact other people to "lie about being present during the altercation."
Following an extensive investigation, Antunez was arrested last week.
