SALT LAKE COUNTY, Utah, April 6, 2020 (Gephardt Daily) — A third suspect has been arrested in connection with the March 30 fatal shooting of a man in Millcreek.
Randy Merrill Mower, 23, was taken into custody Wednesday and charged with obstruction of justice, a second-degree felony, according to a probable cause statement filed in 3rd District Court in Salt Lake City.
Unified Police officers responded on March 30 to a report of a shooting and found 32-year-old Tevita Laloni critically injured with a gunshot wound, lying on the sidewalk near 229 E. Hill Ave. Laloni later died in the hospital.
No gun was found at the scene.
Officers obtained video showing Randy Mower helping carry Laloni up stairs away from the apartment where the shooting occurred, the charging document states.
Mower then left the scene before police arrived.
“Detectives were given information from a witness that Mower had taken the gun before leaving the scene, then left the scene with the gun,” according to the statement.
Police say Mower never attempted to contact them, and officers were unable to locate him until Wednesday, April 1.
According to the statement, when detectives interviewed Mower, he told them he was at the scene, helped carry the victim, then left prior to police arriving. Mower denied taking the gun from the scene.
Mower was booked into Salt Lake County Jail with bail set at $20,000.
Two other people arrested earlier in the case are Derek Algernon Little, 35, and Tryana Lynn Scaramella, 27.
Little has been charged with:
- Murder, a first-degree felony
- Obstruction of justice, a second-degree felony
- Two counts of possession of a dangerous weapon by a restricted person, a third-degree felony
- Use or possession of drug paraphernalia, a class B misdemeanor
Little’s bail was set at $100,000.
Scaramella is charged with obstruction of justice, a second-degree felony. Her bail was set at $10,000.
The charging document for Little states that he was seen in the video pulling Laloni out of the apartment. After obtaining a warrant, detectives entered the apartment and found drug paraphernalia that tested positive for methamphetamine.
They also found in the apartment a rifle, a shotgun, a loaded 9mm magazine, a spent 9mm cartridge, and hundreds of unfired rounds, according to the document.
“Little told detectives that he was alone in the bedroom of the apartment with the deceased male. The deceased male had a loaded 9mm handgun, removed the magazine from it, was trying to take the slide off the gun, and then handed the gun to Little,” the document says.
“Little stated that as he took the gun from the decedent, when he handed it to him, the gun went off and the decedent got shot. Little stated that he took the decedent outside in an attempt to get him help. Little stated that he did not want his son to see both parents get arrested, so he left the scene and took his son to a friend’s house.”
Police were unable to find Little for 12 hours after the incident, the probable cause statement says. He was located after a tip revealed his location.
Little is a convicted felon and is restricted from possessing, using, or handling firearms, the statement notes.
Tryana Lynn Scaramella called police to the scene, saying she had found the body outside her apartment when she went outside.
“She stated that she did not know him, did not know who shot him, and that he had just collapsed outside,” Scaramella’s probable cause statement says.
A video obtained by police showed Scaramella “was present while the deceased male was removed from her apartment and placed on the ground. The video shows two other males present that Scaramella later confirmed were there and that one of the males, that lives in the apartment with Scaramella, was alone with the deceased male at the time he was shot.”
“Scaramella later admitted to detectives that the deceased male was in her apartment, that she had been a part of the moving of the body, and that she had the other male that she lives with leave the scene, providing the keys for the vehicle he used and told him to leave the scene.”
