2 more people charged in fatal shooting at Mount Olympus trailhead

Three documented gang members face numerous charges, including murder, in connection with the Aug. 3 fatal shooting of a man in the Mount Olympus trailhead parking lot.

Three documented gang members face numerous charges, including murder, in connection with the Aug. 3 fatal shooting of a man in the Mount Olympus trailhead parking lot. (Aubrey Shafer, KSL-TV)


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MILLCREEK — Two more people were charged Friday with being tied to the shooting death of an 18-year-old man at the Mount Olympus trailhead.

Heriberto Martinez, 20, was charged in 3rd District Court with murder, two counts of aggravated kidnapping and two counts of shooting a gun causing serious injury, first-degree felonies; plus aggravated assault, a second-degree felony; and assault, a class A misdemeanor.

A 15-year-old boy was also charged in juvenile court.

Last week, Alex Daniel Ruiz-Martinez, 19, of West Valley City, was charged in 3rd District Court with murder, a first-degree felony; and aggravated assault, a third-degree felony. His charges were amended on Friday to match those filed against Heriberto Martinez. All of their charges were filed with gang enhancement penalties. Alex Ruiz-Martinez was additionally charged with being a restricted person in possession of a gun, a second-degree felony; and failing to respond to an officer's signal to stop, a third-degree felony.

The group is accused of shooting and killing 18-year-old Naod Welday, of Millcreek, on Aug. 3 about 4:30 a.m. at the Mount Olympus trailhead parking lot at 5425 Wasatch Blvd. His body was found in the driver's seat of a vehicle.

"Deputies observed that the windows on the rear driver and front passenger side of the sedan were broken, and two shell casings were located on the ground at (Welday's) feet and another shell casing on the driver's side rear floor," according to charging documents.

Welday was with two friends, ages 18 and 24, who locked themselves inside their car after police say he and his friends got into a fight with four other males in the parking lot. One of those friends was found by police about a mile from the parking lot on Wasatch Boulevard.

"(He) stated that two males approached them, saying random stuff," such as, "Want to gang bang?" and asking if they "rep?" the charges state.

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But when the friend said he didn't want to "mess with that," he was punched in the mouth. The friend said that's when he ran away, but the group got into two cars and started to drive slowly and appeared to be looking for him. When one car circled back toward the parking lot, the friend called Welday and told him and the others still in his vehicle to "hide" and "lock the doors," according to the charges.

But while he was on the phone with his friends, he said the three attackers returned. The friend "heard banging on the windows" as he was on the phone and the others told him to call 911, the charges state. One of the friends was attacked with a hammer and escaped by rolling over a retaining wall and running across I-215.

Welday was shot four times, the charges state.

All three males arrested and charged are documented gang members, according to police. But investigators do not believe Welday and his friends are gang members or have any involvement with gangs.

"Our hearts go out to the victims and their loved ones for the grief they are all experiencing after this deadly incident. One life lost through gun violence in our community is one life too many," said Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill. "We appreciate the extensive and detailed multiday investigation carried out by the Salt Lake County Sheriff's Office and the efforts of prosecutors from our office that helped lead to these charges being filed."

According to records from 3rd District Juvenile Court, the 15-year-old boy has exhibited similar behavior in the past. In February, he was charged with robbery, a first-degree felony, after he and four others went up to a girl, asked her if she "banged," then assaulted and robbed her, according to juvenile court documents. The boy was wearing a GPS ankle monitor at the time issued by the Division of Juvenile Justice and Youth Service.

While the teen was in Salt Lake Valley Juvenile Detention in March, he punched another boy after also asking him if he was affiliated with a gang, to which the victim said no, according to the charges. In December, when the boy was 14, he was charged in juvenile court in Davis County with possession of a stolen vehicle.

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Pat Reavy interned with KSL NewsRadio in 1989 and has been a full-time journalist for either KSL NewsRadio, Deseret News or KSL.com since 1991. For the past 25 years, he has worked primarily the cops and courts beat.
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