West Valley family seeks public's help finding killer; police say they're close

WEST VALLEY CITY — This week marks six years since Javier Medina, 20, of West Valley City, was gunned down in the driveway of his aunt's house while working on a car.

So far, no one has been arrested in connection with the killing. But West Valley police believe they are close.

"We're pretty close to finding out who it is. We just are looking for that extra help from the community," West Valley police detective Adrian Garlick said Thursday. "We're right there. We're pretty close to solving this."

Medina's mother, sister, the mother of Medina's young son, and many other friends and family members gathered at the West Valley Police Department Thursday to make a plea to the public for help in finding that last piece of information that will lead to an arrest.

"We all deeply miss him. Whoever did this, we just want them to pay for what he did, and (tell us) why did they do it. That's my question, I need closure for that. He wasn't doing anything. And that bothers me still, a lot," an emotional Rosie Carrillo, Medina's mother, said Thursday.

On Dec. 12, 2016, Medina was in a driveway at 7174 W. Bendixon Drive (2680 South) trying to help a 32-year-old woman get her car started. That's when police say another car pulled up and two men got out.

The woman told police that as the men were walking down the driveway, one of them displayed a handgun and started shooting, according to a search warrant affidavit from 2016.

"The male suspects continued walking down the driveway and continued to fire at Javier. While the male was firing his weapon, (the woman) was struck with two rounds. One in the right leg, and one in the left leg. (She) crawled around the back of the white Infiniti and up a set of stairs and began banging on the back door calling for help," the warrant states.

Medina was killed. The woman, despite being shot in both legs, survived.

Ezme Coronado, who gave birth to Medina's son just three months earlier, says she was in the house when the shots were fired.

"I blacked out. I was the first one to run outside and see him," she said, recalling the traumatic experience. "It was hard. We were in complete, utter shock, disbelief. I was still holding on to that hope, that faith, that he'd make it, that he wouldn't leave us. When I had to realize he was gone, I didn't know how to deal with it. It was really hard."

Family members remembered Medina on Thursday as a loving, outgoing, funny and warm-hearted man.

"He was devoted to his son. He wanted to open his own car shop for his son. He had big goals, you know," Coronado said. "He loved working on cars. He loved his family. We were young still, but we had a lot of goals we wanted to do together.

"He walks in the room, he lights up the whole room just with his goofy smile and his funny stuff he would say. If someone was down, he'd go and try and lift them up. He was really just a good person," she continued.

Carrillo believes her son may have been shot in a case of mistaken identity, while Coronado said Medina was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Related:

Slain West Valley man may have known assailants

A man shot and killed in the driveway of a West Valley home last month may have recognized at least one of his attackers prior to being shot, according to a newly unsealed search warrant.

Garlick says investigators have not confirmed that. "It's hard to say at this point if it was mistaken identity or exactly why or who did it," he said.

The 2016 affidavit noted that police were looking at the possibility that Medina may have recognized his attackers.

"Javier was holding the hood of the vehicle open, while she attempted to fix the cables hooked up to the battery terminal. (The woman) said that a vehicle drove by the residence very slowly, and this caught her attention. (She) said Javier noticed the vehicle and stated it was 'Nino,'" the warrant states.

Garlick on Thursday said it is a "possibility" that Medina recognized his killer but believes it is more likely that Medina thought he recognized the car as belonging to someone he knew.

"He did mention somebody, but it was the vehicle he recognized," the detective said.

Garlick now hopes someone will contact his office, even if it's anonymously, and help give the Medina family justice.

"Especially this time of year with the anniversary, holidays, losing a loved one is especially hard. I've been working closely with them. It's a hard time of season, especially when you have a lost loved one and nothing, you don't have any justice for it," he said. "We know people know who the killer is. We know there's information out there."

Garlick added that detectives are also investigating whether a third person may have been involved in the killing, but he did not provide further details.

For Medina's family, they say it still feels like yesterday that they lost their loved one.

"Because he got killed for no reason. I don't know what to say, I just want it to end already. Because every day I think about him. Every single day I think about him. Why did they kill him?" Carrillo said.

"We just want justice for him. We want closure. We want him to be able to rest in peace," Coronado added.

Anyone with information about the killing is asked to contact police at 801-965-5200 or majorcrimes@wvc-ut.gov, or emergency dispatchers at 801-840-4000.

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