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WEST VALLEY CITY — A 17-year-old boy has been charged as an adult in connection with the shooting death of a man in West Valley City.
Jose Hernandez-Liborio, who will turn 18 in two weeks, was charged Friday in 3rd District Court with murder, a first-degree felony.
On Aug. 9, just after 11 p.m., police responded to a report of shots fired in the area of 4200 S. Bluebird Circle, just west of Bangerter Highway. They arrived to find Marcus Garcia, 36, deceased "in the middle of the road" with an apparent gunshot wound to his face, according to West Valley police.
In trying to piece together what happened, detectives learned that Garcia was confronted by a group of boys who were looking for his stepson, allegedly because he owed them money, court documents state.
A woman who was with Garcia at the time of the shooting said the two had walked outside his house and were confronted by four males.
"The males asked Marcus about his brother … saying that (the brother) owed them money," according to charging documents. Prosecutors later determined the person the group was looking for was Garcia's stepson, not his brother.
Garcia told the males that his stepson wasn't home. But he then followed the boys in his truck to get their license plate number, the charges state. The woman was on the phone with 911 "when Marcus got out of the truck to get the license plate number of the car. (She) said that's when she heard a gunshot and the vehicle fled, nearly hitting her."
When detectives spoke to the stepson, he said he received a call just prior to the shooting from an ex-girlfriend who asked him to come outside. The stepson told police that she "previously tried to have him jumped" so he told her "that he was working and wasn't home," according to the charges.
The ex-girlfriend, when questioned, claimed that the stepson and her new boyfriend had been fighting on the phone that night. That's when she suggested to the new boyfriend that they "confront" the stepson, the charges state. The couple then picked up three other boys and went to his home.
The new boyfriend and three boys, including Hernandez-Liborio, got out of the car while the ex-girlfriend stayed in the vehicle. After being told the stepson was not home, they began to walk away. But Garcia followed and allegedly threw something at their car. That's when Hernandez-Liborio exited the vehicle and fired a round at him, according to the charges.
