‘It’s personal’: Jury finds Magna man guilty of 2 murders

MAGNA, Utah — Brenda Chambers wore a shirt saying “Justice for Stevan” on it, and she feels justice was granted Friday for her son, Stevan Chambers, when a 3rd District Court jury found Brandon Beau Warren, 31, guilty on two counts of murder, both first-degree felonies.

Warren, of Magna, shot and killed Stevan Chambers, 26, and Shelli Marie Brown, 26, in 2015.

“I’m so relieved that it’s finally over,” Brenda Chambers said. “It’s a glorious day for us that we know that he’s going to pay for what he did to our family and to Shelli’s family. … I can take a deep breath for the first time in eight years.”

Warren was also found guilty of four counts of felony discharge of a firearm with serious bodily injuries, a first-degree felony, for head and jaw wounds on Stevan Chambers, and head and nose wounds on Brown. Warren was found not guilty on additional counts of felony discharge of a firearm.

On Aug. 15, 2015, police were called to Bears Den Bar, 8785 W. Main Street, on a report of shots fired. A man walking by the bar told police that another man, later identified as Warren, had fired about six shots at him from across the street.

Two days later, on Aug. 17, 2015, at 3:11 a.m., police were dispatched to 9150 W. 2800 South, in Magna, where they found Stevan Chambers’ dead body. Chambers had a total of four gunshot wounds to his head and shoulder. A medical examiner said he had already fallen to the ground when at least one of the four shots was fired. The site was within a block of Warren’s home.

Then, on Aug. 19, 2015, at 12:12 a.m., police were called to 8941 W. 2600 South, in Magna — again for shots fired, but they found no evidence. At 10:20 a.m. that day, a woman reported a dead body on the bleachers at the adjacent Magna Copper Park.

The body, which was shot in the head, nose and mouth, was later identified as Brown.

Forensic scientists determined that the CBC .380 casings collected across the street from the Bears Den and at the scenes of Stevan Chambers’ and Brown’s deaths, as well as the bullets extracted from the victims’ bodies, were all fired from the same gun, court documents state.

Two bags were also discovered with Brown’s body, one of which had a partially consumed Gatorade bottle in it with Warren’s fingerprints on it, as well as Warren’s and Brown’s DNA on the rim of the bottle, police said.

Forensic scientists believe Warren was within 1 to 3 feet of Brown when he shot her. Prosecuting attorney Vincent Meister said the close range from which Warren shot Stevan Chambers and Brown, and the locations of their gunshot wounds, proves their deaths were intentional.

“Shelli’s murder is personal. It’s angry. When you shoot somebody in the head — you’re intending to kill,” Meister said during the closing arguments of the jury trial Thursday.

Defense attorney Dayna Moore proclaimed Warren’s innocence throughout the trial, even pointing to unidentified DNA found on Brown’s collarbone.

“Convicting an innocent man is not justice,” Moore said. “The only justice that is done when an innocent person is convicted is hollow and counterfeit, and Brandon Warren is an innocent person.”

Warren is scheduled to be sentenced in August.