Forty-one-year-old Fnu Reena, one of the three victims in the June 15 WestFest shooting in West Valley City, was eight weeks pregnant at the time of her death. That fact, learned from her autopsy, adds another charge of aggravated murder in the shooting, said Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill.
“Later, it was also discovered both the mother and the father were aware of the pregnancy, and in fact, I believe they had had their two-month checkup that day,” he said.
Sixteen-year-old Matthiaz Ioane-Register now faces charges in the deaths of Reena and her unborn child, and the deaths of 8-month-old Anderson Garcia Cabrera Jr. and 18-year-old Hassan Lugundi. Lugundi was shot five times.
Ioane-Register is being held without bail. Because he is a minor, he cannot face the death penalty. The maximum sentence would be 25 years to life imprisonment for each murder charge, with the possibility of parole.
The district attorney said Ioane-Register and Lugundi allegedly belong to two different gangs in the area. In the immediate aftermath of the shooting, officers reported hearing “F— TCS” — an acronym for Titanic Crip Society. Ioane-Register has a TCS tattoo and was identified as a member. According to police, Lugundi is friends with members of the Bloods gang.
Increasing gang violence worries Gill, who said Utah data show that those committing homicides have generally gotten younger.
“It gives me concern that we are becoming more organized, we're becoming more sophisticated, as well as the proliferation and access to stolen guns in younger and younger ages is causing this kind of stuff,” Gill said.
When searched, the handgun used was discovered to have been stolen out of Crowley, Louisiana. How it ended up in Utah was “anybody’s guess,” Gill said.
Gun regulations are top of mind after two shootings at public events in the Salt Lake Valley, including one at the No Kings rally in downtown Salt Lake City that led to the death of bystander Arthur “Afa” Ah Loo.
Speaking generally about gang violence, Gill said the easy access to guns is driving up the intensity of crimes and violence committed by young people.
“And if we don't pay attention to that, we're going to see more and more of this,” he said. “And at least in my – and this is my opinion only – I think we have about four to six years to really sort of invest in the infrastructure so we can stay on top of it.”
