SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, Oct. 15, 2022 (Gephardt Daily) — Two teens charged in the shooting death of Bryan Galicia-Rodriguez will be tried as adults, a judge has determined.
Galicia was 16 on Sept. 10 when he was fatally shot after stopping his Mercedes outside a residence near 500 S. Post St. in the Poplar Grove neighborhood of Salt Lake City.
Charged in the case are Christian Rodriguez, 16, and Nestor Del Valle, 17.
According to the suspects’ probable cause statements, they were following a BMW they intended to carjack when they lost sight of it and spotted the Mercedes, initially thinking it was the same car.
Galicia’s girlfriend told detectives that she and Galicia were returning from a party when “they noticed a dark vehicle following them. Upon arrival home, Galicia pulled into the
driveway.”
The car drove past them, then turned around and stopped behind the Mercedes.
“A passenger of the (suspects’) vehicle, later identified as defendant Christian Rodriguez, who was wearing a blue bandana over his face, approached the driver’s side door of Galicia’s vehicle and yelled something,” the probable cause statements say. “Rodriguez then fired shots through the driver’s side window, hitting Galicia. Rodriguez then ran back to the other vehicle and left.”
Salt Lake City police were called to the scene, and Galicia was transported to Intermountain Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. According to reports at the time, his girlfriend was not struck by any of the bullets.
“When detectives processed Galicia’s car, they lifted a fingerprint off the driver’s side door handle. Detectives also located a bullet impact in the upper driver side door panel. Four 9mm mixed shell casings were recovered from the scene.”
A juvenile witness, A.T., told detectives the shooter was Rodriguez, who was with his friend, Del Valle, who provided the gun used. A.T. said he and the suspects had been together inside the car, which was registered to his mother. A.T. said the suspects had planned to hijack a BMW that A.T.’s mother had backed into and damaged a day earlier, the probable cause statement says.
Police performed a warranted search at the house of Del Valle’s mother, and she confirmed she had been in an accident with a BMW. She also said the male owner had come over to talk about repairs, and Rodriguez and Del Valle had both been present at the time, as had A.T. Detectives located a handgun magazine loaded with four 9mm bullets.
A warranted search of the Rodriguez residence in West Jordan turned up a handgun and magazine with 9mm bullets, two blue bandanas, multiple cellphones, marijuana, scales and gun cases, arrest documents say.
The print on the victim’s car was found to match the left ring finger of Rodriguez.
Rodriguez was charged on suspicion of:
- Aggravated murder, a first-degree felony
- Aggravated robbery, use or threatened use of a weapon, a first-degree felony
- Three counts of felony discharge of a firearm, one each as a first-, second-, and third-degree felony
- Minor in possession of a firearm, a class B misdemeanor
Del Valle was charged on suspicion of:
- Criminal homicide, aggravated murder, a first-degree felony
- Aggravated robbery — use or threatened use of weapon, a first-degree felony
“The victim appears to have been a random stranger driving a car that was targeted for
carjacking,” the police statement says.
