One man has been arrested after reportedly firing the shot that killed a 7-year-old girl on Friday, and two other men also are under investigation.
Police were called Friday to the Wasatch Commons apartments at 2790 N. Commons Blvd. in Heber City and learned that Zaydanielys Rodriguez Irizarry had been shot. Her parents took her to Heber Valley Hospital, where she died.
Her father, Danny Rodriguez, set up a GoFundMe page to raise money to “move my daughter’s body to Puerto Rico and give her the eternal rest that my angel deserves.” (The family moved to Utah about a year ago.) As of Monday morning, the account — which had a goal of $10,000 — had raised more than $37,000
Officers arrested a 34-year-old man who was “obviously intoxicated” and “non-compliant.” According to a probable cause statement, a Wasatch County Sheriff’s deputy “observed what appeared to be a firearm” protruding from the suspect’s t-shirt at the belt line; when the suspect was arrested and searched, a handgun was found.
Two witnesses told police they were in a nearby apartment with the suspect and two other men; one of the women said all three men were “incredibly intoxicated,” according to the probable cause statement. The suspect and a second man were groping the two women, they said, and the suspect pulled out a gun and waved it around.
When the apartment was searched, detectives found a bullet hole in a wall. According to police, the bullet continued north and into the apartment where the victim lived.
When interviewed, the suspect said he drank alcohol and took four clonazepam — a sedative, known commercially as Klonopin, used to treat seizures, panic disorder and anxiety that can impair memory, judgment and coordination — and that the second man did the same, according to police. When the apartment was searched, marijuana was found, according to police.
Pending formal charges, the 34-year-old man has been booked into the Wasatch County jail for investigation of manslaughter, drug and weapons charges. He is being held without bail.
The second man is under investigation for sexual battery and intoxication. He paid $2,000 bail and was released.
A third man was arrested for obstruction of justice. According to police, he initially told them he never saw the 34-year-old man with a gun, then later changed his story. He paid $1,500 bail and was released.
The Salt Lake Tribune generally does not name suspects until they have been formally charged.
