Two teenage boys were charged Friday in the September shooting of another teen in Poplar Grove.
On the night of Sept. 9, Christian Rodriguez, 16, and Nestor Del Valle, 17, had allegedly planned to carjack another vehicle that had been backed into by someone they knew, according to charging documents. They ended up mistaking that vehicle for another but decided to carjack the new vehicle anyway, fatally shooting Bryan Galicia-Rodriguez, 17, in the process.
Galicia-Rodriguez and his girlfriend were returning to his home after attending a party in the area, police said. When the couple pulled into the driveway, a car that had been following them passed by going north but then turned around and stopped behind the driveway.
A passenger of the vehicle, later identified as Rodriguez, approached the driver’s side of the couple’s car wearing a blue bandana that covered his face. Rodriguez then yelled something and fired multiple gunshots through the driver’s side window, hitting Galicia Rodriguez, documents state.
Rodriguez then allegedly ran back to his own vehicle and fled.
A witness later identified Rodriguez and Del Valle, and explained the pair’s plan to carjack another vehicle before they misidentified Galicia-Rodriguez’s car, police documents state. The witness also said Del Valle had given Rodriguez the gun to use that night and Del Valle took it back after the shooting.
Detectives later served a search warrant at Rodriguez’s West Jordan home and found two blue bandanas, several kinds of ammunition, a handgun, marijuana, scales and packaging at the residence. Police also matched a fingerprint on Galicia-Rodriguez’s driver-side door handle to Rodriguez.
“The victim appears to have been a random stranger driving a car that was targeted for carjacking,” charging documents state. “This senseless, random, and extreme violence is clear and convincing evidence that defendant would constitute a substantial danger to the entire community if released on bail.”
Rodriguez faces a count of aggravated murder, a count of aggravated robbery, two counts of felony discharge of a firearm with serious bodily injury, a count of felony discharge of a firearm, and a misdemeanor count of possession by a minor of a firearm.
Court documents state Rodriguez also has a “lengthy juvenile history“ and has stayed in juvenile detention on three separate occasions.
At the time of the shooting, Rodriguez was awaiting trial in juvenile court for charges relating to an assault against a peace officer.
After the shooting, he was also charged in juvenile court with aggravated assault related to a separate incident that occurred in May.
Del Valle was charged with one count of murder and one count of aggravated robbery. At the time of the shooting, Del Valle was on home detention with pending charges on four counts of aggravated robbery, court documents state. That night, he absconded from home detention and left his required GPS ankle monitor behind.
Court records indicate Rodriguez and De Valle remain in custody.
