SALT LAKE CITY — A man was charged Friday with shooting another man multiple times, possibly because the victim called him a “punk.”
Payton Akridge, 26, who is listed in court documents as homeless, is charged in 3rd District Court with murder, a first-degree felony, and four counts of illegal discharge of a firearm, a third-degree felony.
Prosecutors have requested that Akridge, who is currently in the Salt Lake County Jail, be held on $1 million bail.
On Aug. 22, Jonathan Buie, 34, who goes by the moniker “Miami,” was shot several times and killed near 55 N. 800 West.
Surveillance video collected by police from nearby businesses showed a Honda Odyssey parked near the curb on 800 West and a man getting out of the vehicle and approaching others on the park strip for a short time. The man then got back in the van and it drove away. But about a block later, the van made a U-turn and headed back to the park strip where Buie approached the vehicle, according to charging documents,
“The video showed the driver immediately fire five rounds at Jonathan through the open front passenger side window. Jonathan fled on foot a short distance and collapsed near the sidewalk from his injuries,” the charges state.
A witness followed the fleeing Honda and took a picture of the license plate with a cellphone. Salt Lake police reported locating the vehicle at a hotel near 1700 W. North Temple, and then located the vehicle owner, who was Akridge’s fiancee.
The woman told investigators that they had driven to the park strip looking for heroin and that Akridge had gotten out of the van to buy drugs, according to the charges. When he got back into the car and drove off, she said Akridge made a U-turn. The woman, who was lying down in the back seat, said she then heard several gunshots.
“She immediately sat up in the van and asked Akridge what happened. Akridge replied to (her), “He said I was a punk,” according to charging documents.
When the woman asked who said that, Akridge replied, “Miami,” the charges state.
Akridge allegedly ran from the hotel after spotting police near the van in the parking lot. He was later located walking in the area of 100 South and 600 West and was arrested.
Akridge, whose criminal history includes convictions for drugs and drug-related crimes, was on felony probation with Adult Probation and Parole at the time of the shooting, a police affidavit states.