SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, Nov. 4, 2022 (Gephardt Daily) — Prosecutors have filed a murder charge against a 32-year-old Riverton man in connection with a fatal road-rage shooting Oct. 26 in Sandy.
Rodrigo Andres Monroy is charged with murder, a first-degree felony, in the shooting death of Christopher Mortensen, 42, of Pleasant Grove, according to charging documents filed Friday in 3rd District Court.
Monroy and Mortensen got into a “conflict” on Interstate 15, with Monroy at one point pulling his truck in front of Mortensen’s truck and slamming on his brakes, “which caused Mortensen, who was hauling a large trailer with his truck, to hit his brakes to avoid an accident,” charging documents state.
“Following an exchange of verbal hostilities and hand gestures,” both drivers then exited at 10600 South, and Monroy followed Mortensen’s truck to a gas station near 100 West, according to the charges.
Mortensen stopped in front of the gas station, and Monroy parked behind him, charges state. Mortensen then got out of his truck, walked to the driver’s side of Monroy’s truck and “hit his hand” against the window, according to charging documents.
Monroy responded by pulling a handgun on Mortensen, who then attempted to disarm the man “but was unsuccessful,” charges state.
A passenger in Mortensen’s truck told Sandy City police Mortensen was “backing away and standing approximately 1-2 feet away from Monroy’s truck in a defensive posture” when Monroy shot Mortensen in the chest, according to the charges.
An autopsy performed Oct. 27 determined Mortensen had been shot once through the heart, and the bullet had exited through his back.
Monroy is being held without bail in the Salt Lake County Jail.
Mortensen is survived by his wife and their four children, according to a fundraising account set up to benefit his family.
