SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, Jan. 12, 2023 (Gephardt Daily) — Two suspects were charged and arrested Wednesday for the 2009 fatal shooting of an alleged rival gang member.
Nicholas Dean MacNeil, 32, and Aaron J. Paul Campbell, 33, were booked into the Salt Lake County jail on Wednesday on one count each of suspicion of murder, a first-degree felony.
Previously arrested for the crime was Matthew Day, now 37, who pleaded guilty to manslaughter in 2009 and was sentenced to 20 years in the Utah State Prison.
The shooting happened 14 years ago, on Jan. 9, 2009. The scene was Interstate 15 at about 1700 South, adjacent to the Ballpark neighborhood.
“A black Nissan Maxima pulled alongside a green Jeep Grand Cherokee on southbound Interstate 15,” according to mostly identical probable cause statements filed in the arrest of each man. The arresting agency was the Utah State Bureau of Investigation.
“The green Jeep Grand Cherokee was being driven by the victim and had the front seat passenger of the victim’s brother. Nicholas Dean MacNeil and Aaron J. Paul Campbell were passengers inside the black Nissan Maxima, both were armed with firearms, and both fired shots at the victim and the victim’s brother.
“The victim was struck and later died at the hospital from injuries sustained from the bullet wound.”
The victim was identified at the time as Cesar Ramirez, 18.
After the shooting, several people spoke with Nicholas Dean MacNeil and Aaron J. Paul Campbell, “and Nicholas Dean MacNeil and Aaron J. Paul Campbell admitted to having fired shots at the occupants of the green Jeep Grand Cherokee,” arrest documents say.
“According to the statements of several individuals, the shooting resulted from an earlier altercation with the occupants of the green Jeep Grand Cherokee who were believed to have been rival gang members.”
MacNeil and Campbell were associated with the Nortenos gang, the affidavits say, adding that both suspects have “a history of violent criminal activity, a history of criminal activity involving firearms.”
MacNeil’s affidavit says he is “an active Norteno gang member, and Norteno gang activity has increased since Nicholas MacNeil was released from federal custody last year, according to the Metro Gang Unit.”
Campbell’s affidavit says he is no longer an active Nortenos gang member, “but has maintained contact with other current and/or former Norteno gang members including the co-defendant Nicholas MacNeil.”
The officer recommended both men be held without bail. A judge ordered MacNeil be held without bail, but bail was set at $50,000 for Campbell. As of Thursday morning, jail records showed Campbell was no longer an inmate.
