SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, Feb. 13, 2023 (Gephardt Daily) — Court documents reveal additional details after two brothers were charged in connection with a Feb. 1 shooting death in the Glendale neighborhood of Salt Lake City.
Oliver Spencer Avila, 23, faces six felony charges including first-degree murder. They are:
- Murder, a first-degree felony
- Felony discharge of a firearm with serious bodily injury, a first-degree felony
- Felony discharge of firearm with injury, a second-degree felony
- Purchase, transfer, possession or use of a firearm by a restricted person, a second-degree felony
- Obstructing justice, a second-degree felony
- Felony discharge of a firearm, a third-degree felony
Julio Steve Cardona, 30, was charged on suspicion of:
- Purchase, transfer, possession or use of a firearm by a restricted person, a second-degree felony
Avila’s probable cause statement says that at 6:45 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 1, Salt Lake City police were sent to 1665 S. Riverside Drive on the report of a shooting. Victim Guthrie Serawop was found in the doorway of an apartment building with bystanders applying pressure to gunshot wounds on his abdomen and lower leg.
Serawop, 35, was transported to a local hospital, where he died at 7:15 p.m. that day.
A witness, who knew the men only by nicknames, said “Gups” (Serawop) was shot by a man she knew as “Looney,” who was accompanied by his brother, “Chino.”
A records check determined Chino was the nickname of Julio Steven Cardona, and he has a brother, Oliver Spencer Avila, who went by Looney.
A surveillance “video showed Avila enter the apartment and Cardona handing him the gun,” Avila’s probable cause statement says. The video reportedly shows the witness and Serawop went outside and the two men talking in the driveway.
“The conversation appeared to get heated and turned physical with shoving and punching. Avila pulled the gun out and started shooting at Serawop, nearly hitting (the witness) and Cardona, who were standing by the door.”
Detectives located Cardona, who initially denied knowing where Avila got the gun, the statements say. When confronted with surveillance video, “Cardona admitted he handed the gun to Avila minutes before the shooting.”
Cardona said his brother had the gun for at least a week before the shooting and hid it from their parents. He later gave it to his brother to hold.
“Cardona said on the day of the shooting, Avila found him at the apartment and asked him for the gun back, saying that people were looking for him. Cardona gave the gun to Avila, and then Serawop came in the apartment ‘aggressively’ and ‘looking for trouble,'” charging documents say.
“Cardona opened the door in time to see Avila shooting Serawop. Avila discharged his gun a total of five times.”
At the time of his arrest, “Avila had disposed of the gun and clothing that he was wearing at the time of the incident.”
The preliminary results of Serawop’s autopsy determined the victim was shot twice in the leg, but his cause of death to be a bullet wound to his abdomen.
“The bullet that entered Serawop’s abdomen traveled in a downward trajectory which injured his small intestine and then hit his Iliac vein causing him to bleed internally… Doctor Lohmann determined the manner of death to be homicide.”
Both brothers were ordered held in the Salt Lake County jail system without bail.
Guthrie Serawop. Photo: Obituary
