Charges: ‘I’m so sorry, I shot Kica,’ teen tells mom after killing 13-year-old sister
May 10, 2023, 6:50 PM
Salt Lake police investigate a shooting near 1600 West and 500 South in Salt Lake City on April 26. A 13-year-old girl died in the shooting, and her 16-year-old brother was charged as an adult Wednesday with murder. (Laura Seitz, Deseret News)
(Laura Seitz, Deseret News)
SALT LAKE CITY — A 16-year-old boy was charged as an adult Wednesday in the shooting death of his 13-year-old sister in Salt Lake City.
Joseph Michael Landers is charged in 3rd District Court with murder, a first-degree felony, and possession of a gun by a restricted person, a third-degree felony.
On April 26, police say Angelica “Kica” Hernandez was sitting on a couch in her house in the 1600 West block of Wright Circle (505 South) doing online schooling. She was sitting with three other children on the couch and her brother was sitting in a chair next to his sister when he got up.
“Landers was standing in front of the television and pulled a gun out of his pocket and said, ‘Who’s trying to get popped?’ Kica told Landers, ‘Shut up, Joe. Stop. Because what if you accidentally do pull it?’ Landers put a clip in and cocked it back to scare Kica, according to charging documents.
Witnesses told police Landers was pointing the gun at Kica’s head and had the laser beam on her head.
“Landers said, ‘Oh, should I shoot her right here? Right here?’ Landers then pulled the trigger as Kica was sitting quietly,” the charges state.
The others said Landers seemed upset after the shooting and ran. Landers’ mother told investigators that she heard a gunshot followed by her son “running down the hallway, saying, ‘Mom, mom I want my mom. I’m so sorry, I shot Kica,'” the charges allege. “Landers ran out of the house. (His mother) stated that Landers texted her, ‘Mom, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to Mama.'”
When questioned, police say Landers initially told them that his friend had shot his sister but later admitted he had done it, according to the charges.
Prosecutors say Landers has already been convicted in juvenile court of burglary, unlawful control of a motor vehicle and theft of a motor vehicle.
“Moreover, the defendant has demonstrated that notwithstanding his prior cases involving felonies, he continued to unlawfully possess and use a handgun and put other people’s lives at risk. The ongoing criminal behavior and escalation of violence demonstrates that the defendant is a substantial danger to the community and the witnesses who observed him shoot the victim,” prosecutors wrote in charging documents while requesting that Landers be held without the possibility of posting bail pending trial.
