Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
SALT LAKE CITY — When Jose Fernandez Garcia woke up to a knock from a man he knew as "Twisted," he let the man inside.
When Twisted asked if his buddies could come in as well, Garcia agreed. He had no idea that Twisted, whom Garcia later identified as David Fresques, or his friend were planning to bring violence into the home until his wife came running toward him and locked herself in a bathroom.
The woman was being followed by a "Polynesian male."
The description of the scene in the Midvale home where three people were shot and killed on Feb. 12 comes from search warrants recently unsealed in 3rd District Court.
Jose Fernandez Garcia said that is when he noticed the Polynesian male had a knife. (Garcia) also said that he saw 'Twisted' with a firearm and 'Twisted' told him to chill out.
–New search warrant
"Jose Fernandez Garcia said that is when he noticed the Polynesian male had a knife," one warrant states. "(Garcia) also said that he saw 'Twisted' with a firearm and 'Twisted' told him to chill out."
He confronted one of the men and heard gunshots shortly thereafter. He then saw Fresques and his friend running from his home.
Danielle Lucero, 26, Omar Jarman, 35, and Shontay Young, 34, were dead when police arrived at 8286 S. Adams Street just after 8 a.m. The warrants describe the scene as police entered the home and found Jarman, apparently deceased, sitting on a couch in the living room. Young was face down on the floor. Both appeared to have been shot in the neck.
A third woman, Lucero, was found dead in an upstairs bed from a gunshot wound to her back and a fourth woman, Vicki Meyer, was found injured and "crouched down beside the bed in the northeast bedroom of the upstairs."
Meyer said she was in bed when she heard a car pull up, followed by a knock on the door. Soon after, she told police that someone opened the door to the room and asked her if she was OK, according to the warrants.
The woman responded that she was OK. She stood up and was between the bed and the door when the same man re-opened the door and shot her.
Ms. Meyer said she laid on the ground and pretended to be dead. Ms. Meyer said that the male shooter walked out of the room and then she heard more gunshots.
–New search warrant
"Ms. Meyer said she laid on the ground and pretended to be dead," the warrant states. "Ms. Meyer said that the male shooter walked out of the room and then she heard more gunshots."
She told police she didn't know who the man was, but when she was recuperating in the hospital, she saw his photograph on the news. The warrant states that Fresques was "the only subject on the news."
Fresques was also identified by Garcia's brother, who had been in the room with Meyers. Officers found six shell casings inside the home.
Garcia told police he saw Fresques with the gun and Meyers said he was the one who shot her.
Police learned Fresques was on parole with the Utah Department of Corrections for a robbery, the warrant states. They also learned that he was a "self-admitted East Los Trece Surenos gang member" as documented by the Salt Lake Area Gang Project in 2008.
Investigators have not yet announced a motive for the shootings, but police said the home was a known drug house.
Fresques, 26, was arrested after a traffic accident on Feb. 13. He has since been charged with three counts of aggravated murder and one count of attempted aggravated murder, first-degree felonies, in 3rd District Court. His next court appearance is set for April 25.
At a parole hearing for unrelated charges in March, Fresques' mother said she didn't believe her son was responsible. She said he has had problems with gangs in the past, but would not be violent to women.
Fresques was in a vehicle registered to Davis Romney Fotu, 33, at the time of his arrest. Fotu has since been charged with obstructing justice, a second-degree felony. A scheduling conference in his case has been set for April 22.
