SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, March 29, 2024 (Gephardt Daily) — A West Jordan man was sentenced to a 15-years-to-life prison term for a 2022 car-jacking gone bad.
“Random acts of violence have no place in our community, They will not be tolerated,” Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill said online Wednesday in announcing the 3rd District Court sentencing of Christian Rodriguez.
“On September 10, 2022, Mr. Rodriguez attempted to steal a car occupied by a 17-year-old boy and his girlfriend,” according to Gill’s press release.
The victim’s girlfriend told police that there was a dark-colored car following them on their way home from a party. When they pulled into the driveway, the dark-colored vehicle pulled in behind them.
The defendant got out of the car he was in and approached the victim and his girlfriend, while they were still in their car. The defendant yelled at them through the window to get out of the car; the victim and his girlfriend refused, according to the release.
“The defendant then fired multiple shots into the driver’s side window, hitting and killing the victim. The defendant ran back to his car, and they sped off.”
Killed was Bryan Galicia-Rodriguez. ” This young man had his entire life ahead of him and his loss will be felt by his loved ones for many years,” Gill said. “I hope this brings some closure to his family,”
Rodriguez was 16 at the time of the shooting outside a residence near 500 S. Post St. in the Poplar Grove neighborhood of Salt Lake City.
According to charging documents at the time of his arrest, he was in a car following a Mercedes his group intended to carjack when they lost track of it. They then spotted Galicia-Rodriguez in his Mercedes and thought it was the same car.
