Man Arrested In Connection To Fatal Kearns Shooting

KEARNS, Utah – A 20-year-old man has been arrested in connection to a shooting that left one man dead and two others injured in Kearns on Tuesday.

According to court documents, Jonathan Johnson was arrested and booked into the Salt Lake County Jail Friday morning on two first-degree felony counts of aggravated murder and aggravated robbery, along with 12 third-degree felony counts of discharge of a firearm – shooting in the direction of a person.

Officers with the Unified Police Department responded to the shooting Tuesday afternoon, which occurred in the parking lot of a Kearns church near 5305 West and 5400 South.

” … The three victims were approached in the parking lot of a local church by 4 black males, two of which displayed firearms and began shooting into the deceased victim’s car,” police said in a probable cause statement. “The decedent attempted to flee from the gunfire by driving away from the immediate area, but crashed into a nearby fence, causing extensive damage.”

Police said 32-year-old Alonso Garcia Mendoza was shot and killed, while the two passengers in his vehicle were injured.

Members of Mendoza’s family said one of the passengers attempted to chase one of the suspects while the other stayed in the car and tried to save Mendoza’s life.

“The other one stayed and held my husband and gave him CPR,” Mendoza’s wife said.

Officers said security camera footage and witness interviews identified Johnson as one of the suspects who shot at the vehicle, and the three other suspects have been identified.

Police said the four men “planned to rob the victim after a drug transaction ruse was organized by an associate of Johnson’s. Several independent witnesses separately stated the victim was lured to the church and confronted by Johnson and another male, both (of) whom discharged firearms at the vehicle in which the victim was seated.”

Officers said the victim was “found in his vehicle with a large sum of money.”