SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, Jan. 14, 2019 (Gephardt Daily) — A second suspect has been arrested in the Saturday night fatal shooting of a 26-year-old man in the area of 400 North Star Crest Drive.
The deceased man has been identified by officials as Mason Hunt, the Salt Lake City Police Department said.
The second suspect arrested, Chase Anthony Chavira, 20, was taken into custody Sunday evening and is facing one charge of first-degree felony murder and two charges of first-degree felony aggravated burglary, according to a probable cause statement from Salt lake City’s 3rd District Court. Chavira was booked into Salt Lake County Jail and is being held without bail.
The probable cause statement for Chavira said the incident began at about 8:10 p.m., when Chavira met with a number of other people and planned to commit a home invasion burglary for controlled substances.
“Chase arrived in a beige sedan while other involved individuals arrived in blue truck/SUV,” the statement said. “During the burglary of the residence, Chase remained in the passenger seat of the sedan and acted as a lookout as other involved individuals, armed
with firearms and faces covered with ski masks, forced entry into the side door of the residence.”
A resident, referred to in the statement as Y.Y., was at home and hiding in the bathroom while this was going on.
Y.Y. attempted to call 911 but couldn’t get through, so Y.Y. called a friend, Mason Hunt (referred to as M.H. in the probable cause statement), who was at work nearby.
According to the statement, the suspects then left the residence, but after driving only a short distance, decided to return to the house, where they resumed rummaging and stealing drugs, paraphernalia, and Y.Y.’s vehicle, which was parked in the driveway.
Hunt went to the home to help Y.Y., and arrived as the suspects were on the property.
“M.H. responded by getting out of his vehicle in front of the residence and confronted involved individuals exiting out of the residence,” the statement said. “A physical altercation took place with M.H. and involved individuals, where M.H. was struck over the head with a rifle and then shot. Involved individuals then fled back to the vehicle where Chase was acting as the lookout and fled the scene in the beige sedan and blue truck/SUV.”
Hunt was transported to a hospital and died a short time later.
Chavira was interviewed and after being read his Miranda rights, “admitted to all of the above details as well as meeting before the burglary and receiving an assignment to act as the look out. Chase admitted that if he observed law enforcement or other citizens that he would make a call to the individuals inside the residence committing the burglary and warn them to get out.”
The first suspect arrested, Colton James Beed, 20, was taken into custody Sunday afternoon and was also booked into Salt Lake County Jail. He is facing charges of one count of first-degree felony murder, two counts of first-degree felony aggravated burglary, and one count of second-degree felony obstruction of justice.
Officials said Monday they are searching for other suspects in connection with the incident, but at this time they have not said how many.
Gephardt Daily will have more on this developing story as information is made available.
