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MIDVALE — A West Jordan man already charged with murder for allegedly killing a 17-year-old boy during a random carjacking has now been linked to the unsolved shooting death of a 16-year-old boy in Midvale just five days earlier, police say.
Nestor Del Valle, who turned 18 less than a week ago, was charged Wednesday in 3rd District Court with murder, a first-degree felony, and illegal discharge of a firearm, a third-degree felony. He is accused of killing Len Robles, 16, of Midvale, on Sept. 15 near 650 W. Wasatch St.
In October, Del Valle, who was still 17, was charged as an adult in 3rd District Court with murder and aggravated robbery, first-degree felonies, for the Sept. 10 shooting death of 17-year-old Bryan Galicia during what police described as a random carjacking.
According to the new charging documents filed on Wednesday, Robles was walking with two friends on the sidewalk not far from his home when a vehicle pulled up next to them. Del Valle asked the teens where they were from and one of them answered, "Old town Midvale."
Police say the driver then started shooting at Robles and his two friends.
One of the teens who was walking with Robles told detectives that Robles "had a beef" with another teen and his friends told him not to sell any "carts" (vape cartridges) to the other person because it was a setup, the charges state. The other teen with Robles, however, told police that they were simply walking home and denied any type of setup.
Police recovered five casings in the road about 75 feet from where Robles' body was found. Those casings were later matched to another shooting that occurred on Sept. 9 in Murray, according to the charges. On that day, Murray police responded to a report of shots fired in a neighborhood near Cottonwood High School. No one was injured and the shooting was not on school property.
Unified police collected surveillance and body camera video from that incident and used it to match a vehicle from that scene with one connected to the carjacking and homicide in Salt Lake City the next day, the charges state. Detectives were also able to use the video to identify possible suspects, including Del Valle.
Police later interviewed a girl who said she was with Del Valle in the car when Robles was shot, along with the teen whom Robles allegedly had a beef with, the charges state.
"They were driving around Midvale when they saw three 'kids' walking on the sidewalk. Nestor asked (the other teen) if he should turn around and go back, and (he) said he should. Nestor then turned around and pulled up to the group, asking them where they were from," the girl told police, and then he allegedly opened fire.
Prosecutors have requested that Del Valle be held in jail without the possibility of posting bail, "given the violent history of the defendant and his involvement in multiple unrelated homicides."
