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SALT LAKE CITY — Two people suspected in a Los Angeles murder investigation were arrested in Utah without incident and are now awaiting potential extradition back to California.
Jasani Jakeil Johnson, 21, and Wynter Smith, 20, were arrested Thursday for investigation of theft and obstruction of justice. Both were booked into the Salt Lake County Jail, where they remained on Friday without bail.
Few details about the murder investigation were provided, but Los Angeles police issued an attempt to locate a white Mitsubishi Mirage that had been reported stolen early Thursday, according to a police booking affidavit.
The vehicle, California police said, was owned by the victim of a homicide. Police used records checks to determine the vehicle was traveling I-15 with a last known location in Las Vegas. In a statement, Salt Lake police added that license plate reader technology indicated that the vehicle was in Salt Lake City, near 450 W. 600 North, under a freeway overpass.
Officers began searching the location and spotted the vehicle, prompting a "high-hazard, felony traffic stop" where Johnson and Smith were arrested without incident.
While in custody, Smith told officers that she and Johnson "were in fact responsible for an aggravated murder in Los Angeles and took the vehicle in the commission of the homicide," the affidavit alleges.
The arrest report added that the Los Angeles Police Department and Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office were "actively working" on a nationwide warrant to extradite Johnson and Winter to Los Angeles to face charges related to the homicide.
