WEST VALLEY CITY — West Valley police have arrested three people in connection with the fatal shooting of a high school football star at a house party over the summer.
On July 14, Neko Jardine, 19, was attending a party at 5625 W. 4360 South, with between 30 and 40 others, when two cars pulled up and called for the partygoers to come outside, according to police. Detectives believe the suspects had an ongoing dispute with someone who lived at the house, but that person wasn’t home.
An estimated 15 to 20 people total were outside the house when words were exchanged between the two groups, said West Valley police spokeswoman Roxeanne Vainuku. Family members say Jardine tried to play peacekeeper and stop his cousins from getting into an altercation.
Yet 10 to 12 shots were fired, police said, striking and killing Jardine.
Many of those attending the party fled the scene after the shooting without talking to police. Vainuku also noted that no one came forward with information.
Detectives collecting and analyzing forensic information over the past several months were able to determine that two guns were used in the attack, she said. They also determined the shooter or shooters were in a red sedan based on surveillance video collected from the area, according to a police affidavit.
Working with agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and the Statewide Information and Analysis Center, detectives eventually identified Jose Joel Nunez Perez, 18, as a suspect, Vainuku said.
“Through forensic techniques the casings at the scene were connected to shootings that occurred on Aug. 24 in West Valley City, on Aug. 25 in Salt Lake City, and on Sept. 14 in Sandy,” according to the affidavit.
- On Aug. 24, a man was shot in the leg during a drive-by shooting at 4996 W. Cherry View Drive, according to West Valley police.
- On Aug. 25, Salt Lake police responded to a report of a shot or shots being fired and found shell casings but no injuries were reported.
- On Sept. 14, Sandy police responded to a call of shots fired near 8800 South and 500 East. A shell casing was recovered, but no injuries were reported and no arrests made.
Perez, who drives a red 2007 Toyota Camry, was arrested outside of his house Wednesday for investigation of murder, two counts of attempted murder and obstruction of justice.
Additional forensic analysis led to the arrests of Arnol Francisco Perez-Zelaya, 21, and Luis Sebastian-Enciso, 19. Perez-Zelaya was arrested for investigation of murder, two counts of attempted murder, and three counts of aggravated assault. He was also federally indicted in September on charges of heroin distribution.
Sebastian-Enciso was arrested for investigation of murder, two counts of attempted murder and aggravated burglary.
Perez-Zelaya was already wearing a GPS ankle monitor from a separate case at the time of his arrest, Vainuku said. Police say two guns were recovered from Sebastian-Enciso’s home.
More arrests are possible, according to investigators who noted that two people already in custody for other crimes were specifically being investigated. No other information was available about those two people.
Jardine was a star player for Kearns High School football team and had just graduated.
“He was a big, strong football player, but his heart was with the family and with the kids,” one of Jardine’s cousins, Stefie Munk, said at a memorial in July. “The little kids loved him and he was a good role model.”