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MILLCREEK — After more than three years of investigating, Unified police believe they have solved the fatal shooting of a man outside a Millcreek car wash.
Three men were charged Wednesday afternoon in 3rd District Court in connection with the Oct. 18, 2020 shooting death of Manuel Felipe Gonzales-Cortes, 21, of Colombia, in front of a car wash near 635 W. 3900 South.
Awad Moses Majok, 22, of Salt Lake City, who was arrested Tuesday, is charged with murder and aggravated robbery, first-degree felonies; and illegal discharge of a gun, a third-degree felony.
Nogolweit "Nunu" Kug, 18, of Salt Lake City, is charged with murder and aggravated robbery, first-degree felonies; and two counts of illegal discharge of a gun, a third-degree felony.
Deng Mawut Buk, 22, of Taylorsville, is charged with obstruction of justice, a second-degree felony.
For Kug and Buk, it's the second time in a year they've been linked to a murder investigation.
Both men were charged with murder a year ago in connection with the shooting death of a man outside the Salt Palace Convention Center. They have been incarcerated since being arrested in connection with that incident.
Police say all three men have lengthy criminal histories and can be linked to the same gang, which has been involved in multiple shootings throughout Salt Lake County.
Investigators were finally able to put their case together thanks to DNA evidence combined with "incredible police work" from the lead detective, said Unified Police Sgt. Melody Cutler.
Gonzales-Cortes was shot Oct. 18, 2020, about 12:30 a.m. in front of a car wash. He was staying with his girlfriend nearby when he left to walk to a convenience store to buy beer. Police do not believe Gonzalez-Cortez had ever met his attackers prior to that evening.
Officers responding to the shooting collected surveillance video from a nearby business.
"The video showed Manuel walking westbound down the sidewalk with two males, later identified as Nogolweit "Nunu" Kug and Awad Moses Majok, following Manuel down the sidewalk. The video then appears to show a struggle between Manuel, Kug and Majok. During that struggle, two muzzle flashes can be seen in the video," according to charging documents.
On Oct. 29, 2020 — just 11 days after Gonzales-Cortes was killed — Anei Joker, 20, was involved in a shooting near 2500 S. Parkcrest Drive. In that case, a parked, unoccupied car was shot multiple times in West Valley City and 12 shell casings were recovered by police. Joker was charged in that case and later convicted of a reduced charge of attempted illegal discharge of a firearm.
On Nov. 1, 2020, Majok was stopped by Salt Lake police in a stolen vehicle with four other people. One of those passengers was Buk Mawut Buk, 22, according to court records, who is currently charged with murdering University of Utah football player Aaron Lowe.
In that stolen car, police found a gun that was determined to be stolen out of Cheyenne, Wyoming, on Oct. 14, 2020 — four days before Gonzales-Cortes was killed. That gun was forensically linked to both the Millcreek car wash shooting death and the shooting on Parkcrest Drive, according to police.
While in jail, Majok — who was a cellmate of Joker — wrote lyrics to a rap song that police say refers to the Millcreek shooting. In October 2021, while Joker was incarcerated in California, Unified police questioned him about the Millcreek killing. That's when police say he told them about the song lyrics. Two months later, Joker was killed in a shootout with police in a Taylorsville convenience store parking lot.
"My (expletive) took a life for me. Body drop right in front of me," the lyrics said, in part.
KSL.com first reported on that rap song on Dec. 7, 2021. KSL-TV broadcasted a similar story the next day.
"On Dec. 8, 2021, while watching a KSL newscast about the car wash murder, Majok told his cellmate that Majok was involved in the murder and the victim had dropped right in front of him. Majok then went on to say, '...damn Kug! I got to go to court, I've got to get out,'" the charges state.
Majok then told his cellmate that Kug had "already started my fame" and that the .40 caliber handgun police had recovered "was not the gun that shot the victim but was involved in the shooting," according to the charges.
"Majok then went on to explain that the victim ... was the wrong person that died. Majok told his (cellmate) that 'it wasn't supposed to be him. ... He was hanging on the old block.' Majok then indicated several times that the 'snitch' being discussed in the newscast had heard Majok's rap about a 'body dropping right in front of him,' which was related to the car wash shooting," charging documents state.
In a phone conversation between Majok and Buk, Majok allegedly said, "They trying to find out who, who it was. (C)ause remember that I told you to throw away the nine?"
Ten months later, detectives formally called Majok a suspect in the shooting death of Gonzales-Cortes.
Then in 2022, Kug was charged with murder and aggravated robbery, first-degree felonies, in the shooting death of Deliford Knight, 41, of Florida, outside the Salt Palace Convention Center. Deng Buk was also charged with murder in that case. Buk Buk and Deng Buk are brothers, according to police.
In August, police said they learned that while Kug was in jail, he had spoken to another inmate about the car wash killing.
"Kug indicated that he and Majok were trying to rob the victim who got killed. Majok was fighting with the victim over the gun that Majok had brought and the gun went off. Kug shot once but missed. Kug then shot again, hitting the victim. Kug told (an inmate) that they were trying to rob the victim of his phone and some other stuff. Kug indicated that they had killed someone whom they thought belonged to (another) gang. Investigation later revealed that Manuel Gonzales-Cortes was not involved with a gang and had only gone to the store to buy some beer when he was robbed and shot," charging documents state.
On Sept. 21, the Utah State Crime Lab completed a DNA analysis of the inside pocket area of the victim's hooded sweatshirt, and found Majok's DNA profile in it, the charges allege.
