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MIDVALE — A man who was recently arrested for investigation of murder, though prosecutors declined to file charges against him, is now accused of raping a 13-year-old girl a few months earlier.
Dylan Gregorio Upshaw, 31, of Sandy, was charged Tuesday in 3rd District Court with rape of a child and two counts of sodomy on a child, both first-degree felonies. A no-bail warrant was issued Tuesday for his arrest.
A 13-year-old girl says she was contacted via Snapchat about hanging out with a friend at a motel in Salt Lake County on March 15, 2022, according to charging documents. When she got there, her friend wasn't at the hotel but Upshaw, whom she had previously purchased marijuana from, was, the charges state.
While waiting for her friend to return, the girl says she smoked weed with Upshaw and told him she was not interested in doing anything physical with him.
"(She) stated that she remembers Upshaw giving her a blue and white oval pill and she took it. (She) stated that after she took the pill, she passed out. (The teen) stated that the next thing she remembers is waking up with Upshaw on top of her," according to charging documents.
Upshaw continued to rape the girl as she "was falling asleep and hallucinating from the pill and weed," the charges state.
After the assault, the girl went to a local hospital where swabs of DNA were collected. That DNA was tested and confirmed Upshaw as a suspect, according to the charges.
"(Upshaw) took advantage of the victim in her intoxicated and unconscious state and sexually assaulted her," prosecutors state.
In January, Upshaw was arrested for murder in the shooting death of Xavier Bernal, 20, of Ogden, at the Redwood apartments, 4000 S. Redwood Road in West Valley City. At that time, a jail booking affidavit listed Upshaw as being 21. Police confirmed Tuesday he is actually 31.
On Jan. 11, however, the Salt Lake County District Attorney's Office declined to file charges, noting that Upshaw claimed the shooting was in self-defense and prosecutors could not prove otherwise at that time.
