- Sheraya Lyn Ridgway, 30, charged with murder and obstruction in a botched drug deal.
- Three others, including Brandon Murphy, were previously charged in the same case.
- Ridgway allegedly facilitated the deal leading to the death of an innocent man.
SOUTH SALT LAKE — A fourth person is now facing charges in connection with what prosecutors say was a drug deal gone bad and resulted in the shooting death of an innocent man.
Sheraya Lyn Ridgway, 30, was charged Monday in 3rd District Court with murder, a first-degree felony, and obstruction of justice, a second-degree felony, in the death of Timothy Clark McCallum, 56, of South Salt Lake.
Three others were charged in May in connection with the same crime: Brandon David Murphy, 29, was charged with aggravated murder, aggravated robbery and aggravated burglary, and Michael Lynn Angus, 50, and Noah Brady Angus, 27, were each charged with murder.
On May 22, South Salt Lake police responded to a shooting at an apartment at 898 W. Timbercreek Way (4000 South).
"Upon entering the apartment, officers located (McCallum), and an orange and black 'less-lethal' handgun on the ground near the right side of his body. Fire personnel confirmed (McCallum) was deceased," according to charging documents. "The projectiles from this handgun are round and similar to a paintball."
But an autopsy determined that the round the victim was shot with was not a paintball, the charges state.
McCallum's body wasn't discovered until another resident returned to the apartment on May 22. The shooting is believed to have happened the day before.
South Salt Lake police detectives found surveillance video that recorded a car with Ridgway and her three co-defendants pulling up in the area of the apartment complex about 7:20 a.m. on May 21.
"The three males enter the complex from the pedestrian gate. Two of the males appear to be putting on black gloves," according to the charges.
About six minutes later, "all three males are seen walking at a faster pace through the parking lot along the carports. All three males have their hands in their pockets" as they returned to the car, the charges state.
The car was later located in Vernal.
Through their investigation, detectives learned that Ridgway had set up a drug deal for Murphy, who wanted to buy meth. But, "after the drug deal was made, Ridgway received a text message from Murphy stating that he had been ripped off by (the seller)" who allegedly sold "fake drugs" to him, according to the charges.
Murphy then had Ridgway drive him to the apartment complex where the seller lived. But when the three men went to the door, McCallum answered and not the person who sold the drugs, the charges state. McCallum, however, was shot and killed, according to police.
"Somebody did something faulty and I was trying to fix that fault in a way that shouldn't have been handled and somebody got hurt in the process," Murphy allegedly told police after his arrest. "I just know that money got sent and something didn't get returned."
Police were able to place Murphy at the scene, in part, because of the ankle monitor he was still wearing from a previous conviction.
In the charges filed Monday against Ridgway, prosecutors noted that "Ridgway arranged a drug for Michael and when the drugs ended up not being good, Ridgway took Murphy, Michael and Noah to the apartment where the buyer lived. Murphy, Michael and Noah knocked on the door while Ridgway stayed in the car. During an interaction, the victim was shot in the eye and succumbed to his injuries.
"Initially, Ridgway stated she wasn't at the shooting, but later admitted that she stayed in the vehicle when the shooting happened," the charges state. "Ridgway arranged the drug deal, knew the males were angry about being ripped off and knew they were going there at the very least to scare the occupants. Ridgeway knew they had firearms and pointed out the apartment where they, two armed with guns, could find the person.
"Her actions contributed to an innocent man losing his life. Ridgway originally lied about her involvement in the incident," the charges say.
