NEW: Dozens Turn Out At Vigil For Victims Of SLC Triple Homicide

SLC Tripple Homicide Vigil
Neighbors console each other in the aftermath of triple homicide which rocked a Salt Lake City neighborhood Friday afternoon. Photo: Gephardt Daily

SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH – September 19, 2015 (Gephardt Daily) – Dozens of people attended a candlelight vigil Saturday night in remembrance of three people found murdered inside a Salt Lake City home Friday.

Two-month-old, Lyrik Poike, her 50-year-old guardian and grandmother, Heike Poike, and a 28-year-old man, Dakota Smith, were found shot to death by Salt Lake City police.

Alexander Tran, 32, – a man who shared the home at 639 North Sir Philip Drive – was taken into custody and charged with three counts of aggravated homicide.

Friends of the victims joined complete strangers as they fought back tears at a makeshift memorial lined with candles, cards and teddy bears.

Family friend Tayzia Cordoza said news of the murders left the entire neighborhood stunned. “How could anybody do that?” she said. “An innocent little girl got killed for nothing. It’s horrible that this happened. It really is. I met the little girl and the fact that she’s no longer here is tough.”

Officers had been sent to home Friday to determine why an eight-year-old who lived at the residence had not been picked up after classes at Escalante Elementary School. They were trying to make contact with the child’s family when officers saw the bodies through a first floor window. Police entered the home and found the armed suspect still inside. He was arrested without incidence and booked into the Salt Lake County Jail.

Police say Tran has confessed to the killings, but they’ve yet to reveal a motive behind the murders.

We’ll have more on this developing story as information becomes available.

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