SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, Aug. 23, 2024 (Gephardt Daily) — The Salt Lake District Attorney’s Office has filed charges against two men and one juvenile male allegedly involved in the fatal shooting of 18-year-old Naod Welday at the Mount Olympus trailhead on Aug. 3.
Charged are Mateo Heriberto Martinez, Alex Ruiz-Martinez, and a juvenile whose name is being withheld to his status as a minor.
According to a news release by 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 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. 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 says.
“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. Investigators found a Toronto Bluejays hat at the scene of the shooting, which the victims said was not any of their hats. Detectives found an image of a Florencia 13 gang member, Mateo Heriberto Martinez, wearing an identical hat.
“A warrant served on Mateo’s phone found it was at the location of the homicide at the time it happened. In addition, investigators found a message sent at 4:20 a.m. from Alex Ruiz-Martinez, another documented Florencia 13 gang member, to Mateo that read ‘yo hurry up, come to the view.’ Detectives believe that text was sent because Mateo had been in one of the cars looking for A.A., and Alex was trying to get the group to return to the trailhead.”
Cell phone data showed that Ruiz-Martinez had initially arrived at the trailhead at around 4:05, the statement says.
Mateo Heriberto Martinez was charged today 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
All charges have a gang enhancement in the cases of Martinez and Ruiz-Martinez.
Alex Ruiz-Martinez was charged 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
The juvenile suspect, identified as A.V., faces undisclosed charges in juvenile court.
“Our hearts go out to the victims and their loved ones for the grief they are all experiencing after this deadly incident,” SLCo DA Sim Gill said in a released statement. “One life lost through gun violence in our community is one life too many.
“We appreciate the extensive and detailed multi-day investigation carried out by the Salt Lake County Sheriff’s Office and the efforts of prosecutors from our office that helped lead to these charges being filed. All persons accused of wrongdoing are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.”
