KEARNS, Utah, May 19, 2025 (Gephardt Daily) — An 18-year-old man has been arrested for his alleged role leading to the shooting death of a 17-year-old boy outside Kearns High School Sunday.
Unified Police officials arrested Brandon Ray Hollins at about 3 a.m. Monday. He is being held for investigation of murder and aggravated robbery, both of which are first-degree felonies.
UPD Sgt. Aymee Race told Gephardt Daily that Hollins is not the suspected shooter, but was charged because he was one of a group of four people who went to the crime scene with weapons with the intent to rob a man who was selling champagne.
It was the seller, identified in police documents as D.I., who is believed to have fatally shot an armed 17-year-old boy who was a member of Hollins’ party.
“The person that shot the individual has not been charged at this time,” Race told Gephardt Daily. “That will be under review of the District Attorney’s Office to determine if that was self-defense.”
Two people from the Hollins’ car are still being sought, Race said.
Chain of events
Unified police were dispatched on a shots fired call to the north parking lot of Kearns High at 1:48 a.m. Sunday, Hollins’ arrest documents say. They found the 17-year-old shooting victim lying near a gold Chevrolet Malibu.
“Officers arrived and began life saving measures,” court documents said. “The unidentified male was transported by Unified Fire Authority to IMC where he was pronounced deceased at 0214 hours.”
A bullet hole was found in the Malibu, and more than two dozen 9mm casings and unfired cartridges were located in the parking lot.
“The owner of the Chevy Malibu, D.I., ran towards 5400 South and Cougar Lane, where he flagged down law enforcement, and informed them he had just been in a shooting,” the affidavit says. D.I. said he had arrived on scene to sell champagne to a potential buyer.
“D.I. had a Glock 17 9mm handgun in his possession, that was collected from D.I. D.I. was taken into custody by police officers and transported to the Unified Police Department to be interviewed.”
Police interview
“Post Miranda, D.I. stated that he had come to Kearns High School to sell bottles of champagne to individuals he had been communicating with via Instagram,” the court document says.
D.I. was in his vehicle in the parking lot when he observed a vehicle pull into Kearns High School parking lot.
“D.I. stated he keeps the bottles of champagne in his trunk. D.I. exited his vehicle and moved to his trunk.
“As D.I. did this, he looked inside of the suspect vehicle, believed to be a silver four-door passenger car, and saw a driver, a front seat passenger, and two males in the back seat, both wearing ski masks.”
Two males in the silver vehicle exited the car, both carrying firearms, arrest documents say. D.I. later told investigators that one suspect had a Glock handgun and the other had an AR pistol.
“D.I. stated he had a firearm in the front seat of his vehicle and ran to the front seat to grab his gun. As he did so, the male with the Glock in his hand pushed the Glock against D.I.’s head and told him to open the trunk. D.I. said he had gotten to the front seat and was able to grab his gun and had it in his hand against his chest. He then began to shoot at the suspects who had come at him with their guns.”
D.I. told police he began to shoot, and ran from his vehicle towards Cougar Lane, the document says. The locations of the 9mm shell casings match his account.
Video obtained from Kearns High School also support’s D.I.’s statement on what happened.
The surveillance video captured one of the two masked males drop to the ground after apparently being shot.
The other person from the silver car approaches the deceased male and “begins to pick up unidentified items.”
The driver of the silver passenger car then got back into the vehicle and fled the scene.
Investigators were able to identify the deceased, and refer to him in court documents as T.V.
“Investigators obtained information from Metro and Salt Lake City gangs that T.V. had been hanging out with a male named Brandon Hollins,” the affidavit says.
Officers were able to find a Murray address for Hollins, and found a car associated with him that appeared to be the one captured on surveillance video at the shooting scene.
The located car, a gray 2016 Honda Accord, had rear end damage like that of the car recorded on surveillance.
“T.V. has been seen in Instagram videos posted recently with Brandon Hollins and associates of Hollins firing guns, to include handguns and a smaller AR style weapon, Hollins’ affidavit says.
“During the service of a Search Warrant on Brandon Hollins’ home, investigators recovered the smaller AR style weapon and a magazine containing the same brand of .223 ammunition found on scene where T.V.’s body was located.”
After the vehicle was seized, a bullet hole was found in the driver’s door. A family member who is able to track the vehicle confirmed it was in the area of Kearns High at about 1 a.m. on the day of the shooting.
Hollins is being held without bail in the Salt Lake County jail system.
