Salt Lake City police on Thursday arrested a 16-year-old boy accused of killing another teen this month, officials announced Friday.
The 17-year-old victim, Bryan Galicia-Rodriguez, was sitting in his car with his girlfriend outside of his family’s Poplar Grove home when he was fatally shot early Sept. 10, police and his family have said.
The gunshots awoke his mother, Magdalena Rodriguez, who came outside to find her son slumped over in the car, covered in blood. He was taken to a hospital but later died of his injuries.
For weeks, police released little information on the case. His mother earlier this month pleaded for justice.
“They took part of my heart,” she told The Salt Lake Tribune in Spanish.
But on Thursday, a SWAT team and Salt Lake City homicide detectives executed a search warrant related to the case in Salt Lake City, during which they learned the 16-year-old suspected shooter was in West Jordan.
There, the child was taken into custody, Salt Lake City police announced Friday. He was booked into Salt Lake County juvenile detention on suspicion of aggravated robbery and aggravated murder. Police did not release his name because he is a minor.
The fatal shooting happened hours after the victim, an East High student, had finished a shift at Walmart. His mother said he wasn’t one to stay out late, but wanted to spend some time with his girlfriend after work. She was in the passenger seat of the car when he was shot.
In 2008, about a block away from the fatal shooting, the victim’s older brother, Kevin Yhair Carrillo, was fatally struck by a car. He was 12. A curbside memorial still sits at the intersection.
Police said the shooting is still under investigation. Anyone with information on the case may contact Salt Lake City police at 801-799-3000.
