- Faalae So'o was sentenced to five years to life in prison for a 2020 shooting.
- The shooting paralyzed a woman; So'o pleaded guilty to one felony charge.
SALT LAKE CITY — A Taylorsville man was sentenced to five years to life in prison for his involvement in a shooting that paralyzed a woman in 2020.
Faalae So'o, 42, was sentenced Tuesday in the 3rd District Court for felony discharge of a firearm causing serious bodily injury, a first-degree felony. He was initially charged with eight counts of felony discharge of a firearm, but the seven other counts were dropped as he pleaded guilty to the first charge.
So'o fired eight shots toward the back of a vehicle at 3739 Baneberry Way just before 1 a.m., according to court documents.
According to earlier court testimony, a group of people in two cars got out and began vandalizing a car in a driveway next to So'o's home on July 26, 2020, while he and his sisters were outside. After a man came toward him with something he said he thought could be a gun, So'o told his sisters to go inside, then he pulled out a gun, and the four to five people got back into the car and began to leave the neighborhood.
So'o and witnesses have said that the car stopped, drove a little further, then stopped again.
"(So'o) said the brake lights were on when the cars were stopped, but he was worried they may back up. (He) said he aimed at the tires/back of the car and fired his gun," according to a police affidavit.
Two 18-year-old women in the car were hit, at least one bullet entered a home in the neighborhood and other shots damaged nearby vehicles. One of the women who was struck became paralyzed from her injury.
His attorneys attempted to get the criminal case dismissed in 2022 by arguing self-defense, but 3rd District Judge William Kendall ruled against the motion due to So'o telling police that the eight shots were warning shots. Additionally, at the point the shots were fired, Kendall said there was not an imminent threat to So'o or his family.
In a plea statement filed in March, So'o admitted to firing a gun at the back of a vehicle, resulting in serious injury for one of the vehicle occupants. The court ordered he be committed to the Utah State Prison immediately to serve his sentence.
