Two arrested in connection to homicide of Judge Memorial High School athlete
Aug 22, 2024, 4:06 PM | Updated: 5:26 pm
WEST VALLEY CITY — Two men were arrested after police said they shot and killed a 17-year-old innocent bystander, and fled to Nebraska.
Mare Biel, 18, and Bevan Kuajian, 17, are facing murder charges for the shooting and killing of Nuer Deng, 17, in a parking lot.
On July 13, Nyang Mony, Harun Wanthi, and victim Nuer Deng reportedly drove a white Lexus to a gas station in West Valley City where they believed people were meeting to race cars. When no race was apparent, the three drove to Salt Lake City to ride e-scooters, charging documents stated.
The three pulled into a Winco Grocery store parking lot near 2500 South and 5600 West to find out where they could find scooters, officials said.
Mony, the front passenger of the Lexus, told officials that a few seconds after they parked, he saw an Infinity sedan behind the Lexus. “The passenger of the Infiniti rolled down his window, and a black handgun came out,” charging documents said.
Police stated that video surveillance showed a dark Infiniti following the white Lexus into the parking lot and pulled up near it. “And then someone fired multiple shots at the white Lexus.” Deng was hit by one of the bullets in the chest, and he later died at a hospital, the district attorney said.
Community mourns loss of Judge Memorial athlete following West Valley shooting
Nine shell casings were located in the Winco parking lot, West Valley City police detective J. Wells said in charging documents.
Investigators determined the defendants, Biel and Kuajian, were together in the dark Infiniti at the time of the shooting.
West Valley City police detective N. Johansen said investigators believed Biel was the shooter and Kuajian was driving.
“It is unlikely, given Kuajian’s large stature, that he was able to drive and lean across the entire cabin of the vehicle and hold the gun outside of the passenger window,” Johansen said.
Through interviews, detectives reported that Kuajian, the driver of the dark Infiniti, had been friends with Wanthi, who was driving the white Lexus, but had a “falling out” over one of Kuajian’s ex-girlfriends.
Wanthi also told investigators that when Kuajian started to hang out with him and Deng, the defendants were “upset that (Kuajian) is hanging out with a different (Sudanese) tribe.”
Kuajian and Biel had fought multiple times since they stopped being friends, and Kuajin told multiple people he was going to rob Wanthi, documents state.
Charging documents stated that after the shooting, the defendants fled to Omaha, Nebraska, where they were located and arrested.
Detective Johansen said the defendants were part of a rap group, “that are members of or associated with the QVO gang.” Johansen reported that in “multiple music videos posted to the public on YouTube, Kuajian and Biel are seen with handguns, rifles.” In charging documents, Johansen stated that one of the firearms featured in the videos appeared to resemble a rifle capable of firing the same caliber bullet as those found at the Winco parking lot.
According to KSL.com, police also learned the Infiniti the suspected gunmen were in and had recently purchased “is linked to other drive-by shootings in the valley.”
“Today, we grieve with all of those affected by this tragic gun violence,” said Sim Gill, the Salt Lake County District Attorney, in a written statement. “This fatal shooting had a devastating effect on the Salt Lake County community. Our hearts are with the family and friends of the victim killed in this shooting, and with the surviving victims and their loved ones.”
Charges
- One count of first-degree felony murder;
- One count of second-degree felony discharge of a firearm with bodily injury;
- One count of second-degree felony obstruction of justice;
- eight counts of third-degree felony discharge of a firearm.
All persons accused of wrongdoings are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.
