- Jhared Rodriguez was found not guilty of murder after firing shots at a Halloween party in 2023.
- The jury reached the verdict after a three-day trial and five hours of deliberation.
- Rodriguez's testified that others fired first; his attorney said he was relieved at the outcome.
SALT LAKE CITY — A Kearns man charged with murder was found not guilty Thursday following a three-day trial.
The five-woman, three-man jury found Jhared Rodriguez, 22, not guilty after about five hours of deliberation. They heard an hour of Rodriguez's own testimony the day before.
Third District Judge Stephen Nelson ordered Rodriguez's release immediately after the verdict. Rodriguez has been in custody for two years and four months, defense attorney Rudy Bautista said.
He said his client was "a little bit in shock" by the verdict but "very relieved." Bautista had told Rodriguez that fighting a murder charge was an "extremely uphill battle," and is often difficult for a jury to acquit someone.
"He's the kind of young man who never wanted to take someone's life," Bautista said. "He's a law abiding person."
Rodriguez was accused of shooting and killing Jesus Puerta Tovar, 19, at a Halloween party on Oct. 28, 2023, in West Valley City. Police said it was meant to be a small party but ended up growing to between 15 and 30 people.
Tovar and his friends were asked to leave, according to testimony from both sides, but Tovar wanted to stay. Eventually, a fight broke out.
Charging documents said various witness accounts supported that Rodriguez pulled out his gun after being hit by Tovar; others said Tovar insulted Rodriguez's girlfriend. Tovar's group started running away when Rodriguez took out a gun, and multiple shots were fired, the charges state.
Bautista said that evidence portrayed a different story than the one found in charging documents. He said there were at least four guns that fired shots, and Rodriguez fired three shots. Bautista said he argued to the jury three shots was a reasonable amount for defending yourself.
He said initially, police heard reports that Rodriguez had emptied his magazine, and one witness during the trial said Rodriguez was the only one who fired. But shell casings were found in three distinct areas showing shots were coming from different directions.
"I personally believe that many of the state's evidentiary support was very weak, and I think that their theory of the case was misplaced. They started off with assumptions, and when the evidence proved otherwise ... in my belief they didn't modify their arguments. They stuck to what their witness was telling them," Bautista said.
Rodriguez testified Wednesday that he was not the first to fire — at least two others fired first in his direction, and he shot back, believing his life was in danger.
Bautista said before shots were fired, witnesses claimed three people who arrived at the Halloween party in prison jumpsuits had jumped one of Rodriguez's friends. He said in video footage of that fight played for the jury, two guns can be heard chambering bullets. He said Rodriguez helped end that fight.
Rodriguez testified he believed the first shots came from men who were friends of those three people and part of a gang, according to Bautista. He and a friend both testified those shots came from behind Tovar from their point of view.
Bautista said Tovar was hit by two bullets, one of them fatal.
Five shell casings found at the scene came from an unidentified gun, Bautista said — three from one Smith & Wesson 40-caliber pistol and four from another. He said one of those Smith & Wesson pistols was recovered four months later during an unrelated arrest.
Tthe shots that hit Tovar were either from the unidentified gun or Rodriguez's pistol, but the investigation did not prove which one, Bautista said.
"Because they couldn't identify what bullet killed him, my argument was that we don't even know that Jherod was the one that shot him," he said.
Jurors found him not guilty of murder, a first-degree felony, and two counts of felony discharge of a firearm, one a second-degree felony and the other a third-degree felony. Bautista said no others have been charged in connection with the shooting.
Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill said in a statement, "While this is not the outcome the victim's family and our office had worked toward, we appreciate the jury's thoughtful consideration of the case presented to them."
Ahead of the trial, prosecutors dismissed five charges of discharge of a firearm, a third-degree felony.
