West Valley man pleads guilty with mental condition to Millcreek killing of girlfriend

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KEY TAKEAWAYS

Frederick Jason Edwards pleaded guilty with a mental condition to a murder charge.
Edwards admitted to killing Esperanza Chavez and said he has schizoaffective disorder.
His sentencing is deferred for treatment; his violent criminal history dates back to 1994, court documents show.

MILLCREEK — A West Valley man who prosecutors say should be treated as a habitual violent offender because of his lengthy criminal record pleaded guilty with a mental condition to the 2024 shooting death of his girlfriend.

Frederick Jason Edwards, 48, was charged in January 2024 in 3rd District Court with murder and discharge of a firearm causing serious injury, first-degree felonies; obstruction of justice and possession of a weapon by a restricted person, second-degree felonies; and abuse or desecration of a dead body, a third-degree felony.

On Oct. 10, Edwards pleaded guilty with a mental condition to the murder charge. The other charges were dismissed as part of a plea agreement.

Edwards admitted he "did cause the death of Esperanza Chavez by shooting her with a firearm," according to a plea statement that adds he has "schizoaffective disorder," which he also suffered from during the time of the crime.

Because he pleaded guilty with a mental condition, his sentencing will be deferred up to one year while he undergoes treatment recommended by the court for his disorder, court documents state.

On Jan. 20, the body of Esperanza Elizabeth Chavez, 25, was found next to a dumpster at 3994 S. 300 West. An autopsy determined she had been shot twice in the head at close range.

Using surveillance video, police identified Edwards as a suspect. The video shows Edwards pulling up to the dumpster in a Chevy truck about 12:20 a.m., pulling a body from the passenger seat and trying to place the body inside the trash bin, according to charging documents.

"When he is unable to place the body in the dumpster, the male drags the body to the side/back of the dumpster near the chain link fence. The male attempts to cover the body with clothing and a bag," the charges say.

After serving a search warrant on Edwards' truck, investigators reported finding blood on the passenger seat, center console, passenger door, ceiling, and glove box. A coat that was sitting on the passenger seat was soaked in blood.

A history of violence

Police say Edwards is a documented gang member with "a violent criminal history to include many assaults, mayhem, resisting arrest, threats, retaliation against a witness and escape from custody."

He is also charged with attempted mayhem and assault against Chavez in a separate case. In October 2023, Edwards and Chavez were arguing, and Edwards "repeatedly punched her while he was driving," and after they stopped, he "grabbed Esperanza by the back of the head and slammed her head against the steering wheel. Esperanza said that Edwards grabbed her face and wrapped his fingers around her right eye socket. Esperanza stated that she felt like Edwards was trying to grab onto her eyeball and take it out," the charging documents allege.

He is accused of committing a similar attack in 2016 when, according to court documents, he "brutally assaulted a correctional officer by slamming his head to the ground and attempting to gouge his eyes out."

In 2020, police were called to a West Valley convenience store where another woman with a bloody mouth ran inside screaming for someone to call 911 because Edwards was going to kill her, charging documents state. The woman said Edwards started punching her while they were driving and he told her to call her mother "because it was the last time she was going to speak to her." The woman jumped out of the moving vehicle and ran to the store for help.

Edwards was originally charged in that case with kidnapping, but pleaded guilty to an amended charge of assault, a class A misdemeanor. He was sentenced to probation and ordered to comply with the terms set "in federal mental health court."

In 2017, Edwards was convicted in two federal cases for drug possession and assault on a federal officer, court records state. He was sentenced to serve just under three years in federal prison. In 2021, he was released from federal prison to the Salt Lake County Jail's CORE program, or Co-occurring Re-entry and Empowerment, which is designed to help people with substance abuse and mental health disorders.

Prosecutors say Edwards was on federal probation until May 2023. Court records show Edwards' felony convictions in Utah date back to 1994.

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