SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, Oct. 20, 2024 (Gephardt Daily) — A fourth person has been charged in the Aug. 3 shooting death of 18-year-old Naod Welday.
The newly charged male is West Jordan resident Christian De La Rosa, who is 17, but will be tried as an adult, the Salt Lake County District Attorney’s Office has determined.
De La Rosa has been charged with the following crimes, each with an added gang enhancement:
- Murder, a first-degree felony
- Two counts of aggravated kidnapping, a first-degree felony
- Two counts of felony discharge of a firearm with serious bodily injury, a first-degree felony
- Aggravated assault, a second-degree felony
- Assault, a class A misdemeanor
The Salt Lake District Attorney’s Office in August filed charges against two men and one juvenile male allegedly involved in the fatal shooting of Welday.
Charged are Mateo Heriberto Martinez, Alex Ruiz-Martinez, and a juvenile whose name is being withheld due to his status as a minor.
According to a previous news release from the SLCo DA’s Office, police were alerted at 4:23 a.m. on Aug. 3, when Welday called emergency dispatch.
When Salt Lake County deputies arrived at the scene, they found a male, Welday, deceased in the driver’s seat of a Hyundai. They found another victim, identified as “A.A.,” a mile north of the scene with injuries to his face.
“A.A. told deputies that he, Welday, another friend, H.T., and a fourth male they had met in the parking lot were talking outside the Hyundai when two males approached them, asking if they were gang affiliated,” says information previously released by the Salt Lake County Sheriff’s Office. “When the victims told the two males that they were not, one of the suspects hit A.A., who ran away and hid.
“Two cars started driving around as if they were looking for A.A. In hiding, A.A. called H.T. to tell him to get in the car with Welday and lock the doors because A.A. had the car keys with him.”
While Welday and victim “H.T. were locked in the Hyundai, four males who had been in the cars looking for A.A. forced their way into the locked vehicle by breaking the windows.” In Welday’s 911 call, “audio is captured of the four suspects pounding on the windows and breaking them, with the victims screaming and crying as they are attacked. In the 911 call, multiple gunshots can be heard.”
Welday was in the driver’s seat of the car and was shot and killed, “while H.T., who had been in the passenger seat, was hit in the head with a hammer but was able to escape.,” the news release said.
“During the investigation into the incident, detectives found a palm print on one of the windows of the victim’s car; that print matched A.V., a juvenile and known Florencia 13 gang member.
“There is substantial evidence implicating Christian De La Rosa in the homicide,” his affidavit says. “Location data for the Defendant’s cell phone shows that it was at the trailhead at the time of the offense, and moving away from the incident with co-defendants and subsequently present with them in separate gang related shooting in Midvale where he himself was shot.”
“Christian’s phone location data is compelling evidence of the involvement in the offense. This behavior is also consistent with behaviors known by gang detectives as Florencia 13 regularly challenging individuals they believe are in rival gangs.
“Finally, Christian has a significant delinquency history including firearm-related offenses, making him a continuing risk to the community.”
De La Rosa was ordered held without bail.
Martinez was charged in August with:
- Murder, a first-degree felony
- Two counts of first-degree felony aggravated kidnapping, a first-degree felony
- Two counts of felony discharge of a firearm with serious bodily injury, a first-degree felony
- Aggravated assault, a second-degree felony
- Assault, a class A misdemeanor
Alex Ruiz-Martinez was charged then with:
- Murder, a first-degree felony
- Two counts of first-degree felony aggravated kidnapping, a first-degree felony
- Two counts of felony discharge of a firearm with serious bodily injury, a first-degree felony
- Aggravated assault, a second-degree felony
- Felony possession of a firearm by a restricted person
- Failure to respond to an officer’s signal to stop, a third-degree felony
- Assault, a class A misdemeanor
Those charges also have the gang enhancement
The juvenile suspect, identified as A.V., faces undisclosed charges in juvenile court.
