Ogden man given life sentence for deadly robbery at Layton trailer in 2018

LAYTON — A man who shot and killed a person during a 2018 robbery of a trailer in Layton was given a life sentence last week.

Angel Christopher Abreu, 29, of Ogden, was charged in 2nd District Court with aggravated murder, aggravated kidnapping and aggravated burglary, all first-degree felonies. He is also charged with obstructing justice, a second-degree felony. In 2024, a charge of aggravated robbery, a first-degree felony, was also filed in the case.

He pleaded guilty in November to the burglary, robbery and obstruction charges, plus amended charges of manslaughter and kidnapping, second-degree felonies.

On Dec. 30, he was sentenced to one to 15 years for the manslaughter charge and five years and up to life in prison for the aggravated burglary. Those terms will run consecutively, but concurrently with an additional five years to life for aggravated robbery and one to 15 years for kidnapping and obstruction.

The shooting

In September 2018, Abreu and a 16-year-old boy were wearing "costume masks," black clothing and gloves when they entered a trailer at 2500 N. Fort Lane at Lakeview Estates, according to Layton police. Abreu was allegedly holding a rifle, and the teen had a handgun.

All of the occupants were ordered at gunpoint to lie down on the ground, and Abreu fired a warning shot into the floor. Anthony Child, 26, then came out of his room, and Abreu ordered him to get on the ground.

Child ignored him, turned around and started walking back to his room, but Abreu responded by firing 13 rounds from his rifle, striking Child twice in the back, the charges state.

Instead of rushing to a nearby hospital, Child asked his friends to take him to a hospital out of state, according to police. Investigators believe he did that to hide a marijuana-distribution and psychedelic-mushroom-growing operation in the trailer. He was driven to a hospital in Preston, Idaho, where he later died. Layton police didn't find out about the shooting until they were contacted by authorities in Preston.

Before police were called, other occupants of the trailer told police Abreu forced everyone to clean up the crime scene and destroy the evidence by removing the shell casings and using hydrogen peroxide to clean where blood had fallen.

Arrests and charges

After finding 50 gallons of marijuana stored in buckets and other drugs in the trailer, police arrested the 16-year-old and several of the trailer occupants who had been robbed.

Kevin Content, 32, was arrested for investigation of obstruction of justice and possession of a controlled substance. Devon Miller, 29, was arrested for investigation of obstruction of justice, possession of a controlled substance, possession of a dangerous weapon by a restricted person and possession of drug paraphernalia. Douglas Cordova, 37, was arrested for investigation of endangerment of a child and possession of drug paraphernalia.

The 16-year-old, identified as Brandon Martin Hinojosa, of Ogden, was charged as an adult in 2nd District Court with murder, aggravated burglary and aggravated kidnapping, all first-degree felonies. He was also charged with obstructing justice, a second-degree felony.

A few days later, two of the men who lived with Child were charged in connection with this death.

Content was charged with the same counts as Hinojosa, including the murder charge. Miller was charged with drug production and obstructing justice, second-degree felonies; possession of a firearm by a restricted person, a third-degree felony; drug possession and possession of drug paraphernalia, class B misdemeanors.

After Abreu was arrested, he told detectives that Content "helped coordinate the robbery to pay a debt that he owed the shooter. The shooter also provided two handwritten maps of the residence, which he reported were drawn by (Content) to assist in the robbery," the charges state.

Content was also the one who ordered the others to clean up the crime scene before police arrived, according to the charges.

Content pleaded guilty to two charges of obstruction of justice in September 2020. The rest of his charges were dismissed with prejudice, except that the murder charge was dismissed without prejudice. He was sentenced to a year in jail for each charge, but was given credit for the 740 days he had already served and four years probation.

Miller pleaded guilty in November 2019 for two counts of producing and dispensing controlled substances, a second-degree felony. He was sentenced to time served and ordered to three years of probation, but because he complied with probation terms, the case was closed only 19 months later, court documents show.

Cordova pleaded guilty to child endangerment, a third-degree felony. Charges state his infant son was living in the trailer with him, surrounded by marijuana, psilocybin mushrooms and other controlled substances that were being produced in the home.

He was ordered to complete community service and three years of probation. In February 2020, however, he violated his probation terms and was ordered to serve 30 days in jail, followed by three more years of probation.

A second gunshot wound

About two months after the shooting, a search warrant affidavit was unsealed, revealing that Hinojosa also suffered a gunshot wound in his leg that night. He was taken to McKay-Dee Hospital and told police he had been shot while walking down the street.

Abreu later told police he and Hinojosa had gone to the trailer to rob them of drugs and money. While Hinojosa was duct taping one of the occupants of the trailer, Abreu told police he thought he heard three shots, the affidavit states.

"Angel states Brandon was shot one or two times, and in retaliation to Brandon being shot, he fired many rounds towards Anthony's bedroom, heard someone fall, and heard a male's voice groan or moan as if they had been shot," according to the warrant.

Abreu then took Hinojosa to his apartment to treat the gunshot wound before the teen went to the hospital, the warrant states.

Detectives later searched Hinojosa's Facebook page and found a picture he sent to a friend of a pair of bloody pants with the message: "I jus got shot wish ya boi some luck," according to the warrant.

Hinojosa pleaded guilty in January 2021 to the first-degree felony aggravated burglary, plus reduced charges of manslaughter and kidnapping, second-degree felonies. He was sentenced to concurrent terms of five years to life for the burglary and one to 15 years for the manslaughter and kidnapping. He was given credit for the 849 days he had served.

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