Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
- Two Salt Lake City cousins face charges for a drive-by shooting incident.
- Ana Dallara Espinoza Melgar, 18, and her cousin are accused of shooting at an ex-boyfriend hours after breaking up.
SALT LAKE CITY — Two cousins accused of luring a man outside his house and then shooting at him have been charged.
The victim had broken up with one of the two people arrested just hours earlier, according to charging documents.
"(She) was angry because the victim ended the relationship. A few hours later, (she) sought vengeance through a drive-by shooting," the charges state.
Ana Dallara Espinoza Melgar, 18, and her cousin Caden Aries, 19, were charged on Thursday in 3rd District Court with aggravated assault, illegal shooting of a gun and obstruction of justice, third-degree felonies; and three counts of reckless endangerment, a class A misdemeanor.
On May 11, Salt Lake police were called to a home near 1200 South and 900 West at about 5 a.m. Police learned that a man who lives at the residence had been in a relationship with Espinoza Melgar, "and they had been in a fight earlier that night when (he) ended the relationship," according to the charges.
A few hours later, Espinoza Melgar called her ex-boyfriend and told him "to come outside because someone was coming to fight him," the charges state. The man walked outside and was still on the phone with Espinoza Melga when he saw a car with her and Aries drive by.
"(He) thought he needed to fight now, so he wanted to come back inside to put shoes on. As (he) turned around, he heard four or five gunshots fired at him from the vehicle. (The man) took cover and got low behind a tree. Later, it was discovered that there was bullet damage to the tree," prosecutors wrote in their charges.
No one was injured in the shooting.
Salt Lake police were called. While officers were at the home, Espinoza Melgar and Aries drove by again. The vehicle was pulled over after speeding off. Aries was found in the driver's seat and Espinoza Melgar was in the passenger seat, according to an arrest report. Officers also reported finding a shell casing in the vehicle and a gun nearby that appeared to have been thrown out the window, the charges state.
"(Espinoza Melgar's) actions in this matter are particularly concerning given the extreme level of violence coupled with the fact that it was unprovoked and done in concert with another individual," prosecutors wrote in their charges, while requesting that both cousins be held in the Salt Lake County Jail without the possibility of posting bail pending trial.
