Utah’s Cold Cases: Detectives take new look at deadly 2013 shooting in Ogden

Utah’s Cold Cases is a series of KSL TV stories and podcasts that highlight unsolved homicides, deaths and disappearances in our state. The stories can be found on KSL 5, the KSL+ app and ksltv.com. Utah’s Cold CasesKSL Podcast can be found wherever you listen.

SALT LAKE CITY — It’s a murder that has confounded detectives for over 12 years — a man gunned down in cold blood in Ogden during a visit to see his newborn child.

That case is now getting a fresh look by investigators with the Weber Metro Cold Case Task Force as it attempts to uncover new answers in the death of Shallen Lestrick.

Ogden Police Det. Douglas Dunbar said early in the morning of Oct. 1, 2013, officers responded to 911 calls and found that Lestrick had been shot outside a home at 259 29th St.

“A female — the caller on this — was crying over his body,” Dunbar said during an interview with KSL TV.

The woman could be heard on the newly released 911 call pleading for help.

“My baby daddy’s gotten shot,” the woman shouted during the call.

During a second call placed by a neighbor, the woman could be heard saying that two people came up her alley and shot Lestrick.

“The mother of his child — they had a four-week-old child together,” Dunbar said. “(She) had invited him over at 3:00 in the morning to come see their child.”

According to Dunbar, Lestrick had expressed to his mother prior to the visit that the situation felt like a possible “setup,” but went anyway.

During the encounter, the detective said Lestrick, and the woman were smoking cigarettes just outside the home when two men approached from an alley just east of the house.

“He says, ‘Just watch, they’re going to give it to me,’” Dunbar said. “These two individuals walked up, one shot him in the back of the head, and they continued to run west toward Lincoln (Avenue) and disappeared.”

Dunbar said the “streets” began to talk very quickly about the shooting, and rumors surfaced immediately, including some that implicated the mother of Lestrick’s child.

The detective said other rumors pointed to Lestrick’s involvement in the distribution of narcotics and the connection to a man who went by “Playboy.”

“He was one of the shot callers for Ogden Trece at the time,” Dunbar explained.

Dunbar said some rumors surrounded money that had gone missing, and one even suggested it had been put toward the funeral of another gang member.

“The cartel told him, ‘You either pay the cash or you pay with a life,’” said Dunbar, reciting the rumor. “The rumor was Shallen was the fall guy for it.”

Police said investigators ultimately had difficulty confirming any of the rumors and the key witness, the mother of Lestrick’s child, eventually stopped cooperating.

“She at one point hid from the police so she didn’t have to talk to them,” Dunbar said.

At the same time, Dunbar said police found evidence on the woman’s phone that she had been communicating with somebody called, “Secret.”

“Within four minutes after Shallen was being shot, she got a text from this ‘Secret’ asking, ‘are you okay?’” Dunbar said.

Dunbar said the woman was in a relationship with “Secret” nine days later, raising even more potential questions about why Shallen was killed.

“It could be narcotics,” Dunbar said. “It could be ‘Secret’ wanted her for himself.”

Dunbar said he believed someone out there knows definitively what happened to Lestrick, and he hoped anybody with information would come forward and contact the Weber Metro Cold Case Task Force at 801-399-8672.

The task force continues to raise money through its website for advanced testing in this and other cold cases.

“Somebody knows something that can help us out,” Dunbar said. “Whether it’s justice, or they just feel bad for his mom who has been destroyed by this — that’s what we want.”

Related topics