Ogden woman charged with shooting, killing woman after argument

OGDEN — An Ogden woman arrested earlier this month on suspicion of drug distribution has now been linked to the fatal shooting of another woman a week earlier.

Ana María Zaragoza, 37, was charged on Friday in 2nd District Court with murder, a first-degree felony, plus two counts of obstruction of justice and being a restricted person in possession of a weapon, second-degree felonies.

On April 2, Nakeena Youngman, 40, of Salt Lake City, was found lying in the road near 450 E. 800 North in Ogden.

"Nakeena had sustained a gunshot wound to her upper chest and later died from that injury," according to charging documents.

Investigators learned that Youngman had been at an apartment earlier in the evening with Zaragoza.

"Nakeena and Ana argued just before both of them left the apartment, and a gunshot was heard. The witnesses who were with both Naleena and Ana that night confirm that Ana drives a silver Nissan Altima and parks in a particular spot when she visits the apartment," the charges state.

Police began looking for Zaragoza to question her. Detectives would later learn, however, that after the shooting, she got rid of her phone and the gun used to kill Youngman and then traveled to Los Angeles, where she purchased a plane ticket to Mexico, court documents state. But "ultimately (she) did not make that flight as she decided to return to Utah," and was able to obtain a second gun and another phone.

Then on April 13, Zaragoza was arrested by the Utah Highway Patrol, booked into the Davis County Jail and was charged in 2nd District Court with three counts of drug distribution with intent to distribute, a second-degree felony, and seven other crimes.

In that case, a trooper spotted Zaragoza going 101 mph on I-15 and pulled her over. A preliminary test showed her blood-alcohol level at the time was 0.17%, according to charging documents. Bindles of meth, cocaine and fentanyl were also found in her vehicle, the charges state, as well as a gun.

At the time of her arrest in Davis County, investigators noted that Zaragoza was not a legal U.S. citizen and had "booked a flight to Guadalajara, Mexico, the week before this incident, but she missed the flight for some reason."

After her Davis County arrest, Ogden detectives determined the vehicle Zaragoza was driving at that time was similar to the one they were looking for in connection with the homicide investigation.

"Ana was interviewed by (Ogden police), where she admitted to shooting Nakeena after Nakeena made threats toward her. Ana admitted to discarding the pistol that she used to shoot Nakeena, then discarding her cellphone. Ana stated that she knew her phone could be tracked, and this is why she discarded it," the charging documents allege.

An arrest warrant filed in court further explains that after Zaragoza and Youngman got into an argument at the Ogden apartment and just as they were leaving, Zaragoza, "by her own admission to police, acknowledged she went to her car to get a gun when she could have left safely. (Zaragoza) then approached (Youngman) and fired a single 9mm round into (her) chest, resulting in her death," the charges state.

Detectives say they were also able to review text messages Zaragoza allegedly made several days after the shooting, "in which she talks about wanting to kill people and then herself and specifically references that if she is pulled over by police, she would shoot the officers and then herself," according to the charges.

"The trooper who stopped her on the Davis County charge described how she was looking around in the vehicle during his initial interaction with her, but described her having difficulty because of her level of intoxication — which further substantiates had she not been drunk and unable to find her gun, she could have engaged in a shootout with police as she had described. There are also messages referencing wanting to kill other people," the charges say.

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