SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, Dec. 8, 2025 (Gephardt Daily) — The Salt Lake County District Attorney’s Office has filed charges against Jose Angel Torres Jimenez, 21, for an alleged sexual assault and a subsequent wrong-way crash that killed two Utah County teen sweethearts driving on Interstate 15 toward a family gathering in Idaho.
Jimenez, 21, has been charged with:
- Two counts of murder, a first-degree felony
- Forcible sexual abuse, a second-degree felony
- Aggravated assault resulting in loss of consciousness, a second-degree felony
- Aggravated assault, a third-degree felony
- Driving under the influence on a highway, a class A misdemeanor
- Violation of learner’s permit, an infraction
The Salt Lake County District Attorney’s Office’s charging document for Jimenez says that early on Nov. 29, he committed forcible sexual abuse against a 17-year-old girl at the DoubleTree Hotel, at 110 W. 600 South, in Salt Lake City.
Officers were dispatched to the scene at 1:51 a.m., charging documents say. They talked to the girl’s boyfriend, who said that he, his girlfriend, and Jimenez had been staying at the hotel together when the juvenile woke up her boyfriend to tell him Torres Jimenez had touched her inappropriately.
The girlfriend told Salt Lake City Police investigators that Jimenez had inappropriately touched over the skirt of her dress. She told investigators she had slapped her boyfriend, who had passed out, to wake him up and inform him what Jimenez had done to her.
The boyfriend confronted Jimenez, who was collecting his belonging in order to leave, the charging document alleges. The boyfriend followed Jimenez to the parking garage, trying to get him “to explain his actions.”
Once in the parking garage, Jimenez “ran to his vehicle and got in.” The boyfriend said Jimenez “pulled out of the parking spot and accelerated toward him and (his girlfriend, who was standing behind him).”
The boyfriend got out of the way of the Audi driven by Jimenez, but the juvenile girlfriend “was hit head on,” the boyfriend said, adding that Jimenez “made no attempt to slow down or avoid him” or (his girlfriend), the affidavit says.
The girl told investigators she thought Jimenez had veered toward her in the parking garage, as he fled, “but did not remember anything else until she awoke back in the hotel. (She) suffered a concussion resulting in memory loss, bruising and scrapes, and a laceration to the back of the head which required staples.”
At 1:53 a.m., two minutes after the crews were dispatched to the hotel, Utah Highway Patrol Dispatch received calls about a wrong-way Audi driver, who reportedly entered Interstate 15 at 600 South, headed south in the northbound lanes of I-15.
Dispatch was later notified that the Audi had crashed into a Nissan Rogue at about 2100 South, the statement says.
“First responders arrived at 1:56 a.m. and found the Nissan fully engulfed in flames. Troopers located the driver of the vehicle badly burned and laying on the side of the road. Witnesses stated that as they approached the vehicle, the driver, identified as Anneka Wilson, had been trying to crawl out of the Rogue and that they assisted in helping her away from the vehicle.
“Troopers and a medically trained bystander immediately started life-saving procedures until EMS arrived. EMS later notified Troopers that Anneka had succumbed to her injuries.”
After fire officials extinguished the flames from the Rogue, troopers were “informed a second person, later identified as Leo Ray Shepherd, had been located in the Rogue front passenger seat.”
Anneka Wilson, 17, and Leo Shepherd, 18. Photo: GoFundMe
Troopers who spoke with Jimenez at the crash scene said he admitted he had been drinking, and could not accurately remember the location or name of his hotel.
Torres Jimenez stated he had three beers and two shots while at the hotel. Troopers noticed the suspect showed visible signs of impairment, and did poorly on a field sobriety test, charging documents say. On a PBT (Preliminary Breath Test), Jimenez blew a 0.134. Results of a blood test were not complete at the time charges were filed.
The Audi’s CDR (crash data retrieval) confirmed he had been traveling at 120 mph, charging documents said.
“After hitting the Rogue, Jimenez’s Audi traveled another 660 feet before coming to rest without braking.” Troopers also confirmed the suspect did not have a valid license at the time of the double-fatal collision.
Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill said counselors will work with the juvenile victim-survivor to the alleged sexual assault,” and will help her with resources needed to help her cope with trauma of the assault and subsequent collision.
“The other two victims in this case were two young people who had years of life ahead of them that had been taken from them,” Gill said in a released statement. “Our hearts go out to the loved ones of those who lost their lives, and we commit to pursue justice and accountability for them and for this community.”
Gill thanked the law enforcement agencies involved, and said all persons accused of wrongdoing are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.
Photo: Utah Highway Patrol
