SALT LAKE CITY — A Salt Lake man has been sentenced to prison for murder after a jury determined that he shot and killed another man in a Murray parking lot following a verbal argument.
Pirawn Yohan Mula, 24, was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison for murder, a first-degree felony, and five years to life for felony discharge of a firearm, first-degree felonies, in addition to two terms of one to 15 years for obstruction of justice and possession of a dangerous weapon as a restricted person, second-degree felonies.
Third District Judge Kristine Johnson ordered the sentences to run concurrent. He was found guilty of each of the charges by a jury on March 16.
Mula quickly appealed his case, and the Utah Supreme Court has responded with a notice that it was transferring the case to the Utah Court of Appeals.
Mula drove two of his friends to the Fairborn apartments on Nov. 21, 2024, to spend time with acquaintances who lived there. Mula and Panoum Jangjuol, 28, got into a verbal argument, which moved from the apartments to the parking lot.
Mula shot Jangjuol three times, and evidence shows the shots were fired from less than 3 feet away, according to prosecutors. He fled the scene and was arrested the next day. The gun was never recovered.
Jackson Baka Issa, one of his friends, was sentenced to a term of zero to five years in prison for his involvement in the shooting after pleading guilty to possession of a dangerous weapon as a restricted person, a third-degree felony, on Feb. 25.
