A man and three of his fellow gang members were charged Monday with the shotgun killing of a teenager.
Tyrese S. Smith, 21, Melissa A. Chacon, 21, Collin Carter, 18, and Cameron Lopes, 19, each face one count of murder, a first-degree felony.Prosecutors said Smith ordered the death from the Utah State Prison, where he is serving time for an unrelated drive-by shooting. His alleged accomplices, however, "hit" the wrong man, according to police.
Prosecutors say the trio was after Adam V. Archuleta, whom they thought was in the house on Navajo Street. Detectives said Smith wanted Archuleta dead because he believed the man shot his friend, Davin Trujillo, on Feb. 15. But Archueleta was not involved.
Instead, two .20-gauge rounds were fired through a window at Joey Miera, 19, as he slept on the floor of the house, 918 S. Navajo St. (1335 West). Both shots hit Miera in his head, according to an autopsy.
Archueleta moved out of the home three weeks before the incident but apparently visits there frequently. He was standing in front of the house last Friday when someone drove by and fired several shots at him. No one was injured, police said.
Detectives have told the man "to be careful and keep his head down," but he appears unwilling to stay away from the house, said detective Jill Candland.
The alleged plot to kill Archueleta began Feb. 21 about 9 p.m. when Smith telephoned his three friends from the prison, according to the 3rd Circuit Court charges.
Signs near the phones remind inmates that prison officials record all calls. But Smith proceeded anyway to talk with the trio about his plans. About 11 hours after that call, Smith again phoned his friends.
Chacon disclosed in that conversation that she and the other two had just talked about the killing. She described how they were feeling, the circumstances of the shooting and coordinated an alibi with Smith, the charges state.
Lopes and Carter bragged about the shooting days later.
They were visiting a friend on Feb. 26 and talked about the shooting and "that they got physically sick when the blast blew apart the victim's head," according to the charges.
Chacon and Lopes remain in the Salt Lake County Jail on $500,000 bail. Smith is still at the prison; Carter is in jail on no bail. All four were scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday.