Post by Scumhunter on Feb 1, 2019 2:37:22 GMT -5
(Above photo credit: Salt Lake City Tribune archives)
Fugitive Profile as of February 1st, 2019: (Based on Utah statewide warrants search, online news articles)
Age (as of 2/1/2019): 25 years old
Hair: Black
Eyes: Brown
Height: 5'9"
Weight: 155 lbs
Who to call if you've seen him: Salt Lake City Police Department at (801)-799-3000. Anonymous tips may be sent by text message to 274637. Those who text are asked to start their message with TIPSLCPD, which routes it to the police department and then include any relevant information. The reference number for the homicide case is 16-120239.
Fortunato Villagrana has been wanted by Salt Lake City authorities ever since he was identified as one of two persons of interest in the fatal drive-by shooting of 16-year-old Paris Gustin on July 5th, 2016.
At about 4 a.m. on July 5, Gustin and two other teenage males were throwing eggs at cars, according to police. One of the drivers struck by an egg got upset and tailed the three boys, who were traveling near 600 North and 1000 West.
Then someone in the egged car fired shots at the car Gustin was in, hitting him at least twice. The shooter then fled the scene.
The teens in the car with Gustin continued briefly but soon stopped and called friends, who reported the incident to police. Gustin died about 4:15 a.m.
The persons of interest were later identified as Fortunato Nato Villagrana and Jonathan Ivan Padilla-Lopez, both 22 at the time. Villagrana would be identified as the shooter. According to reports, Villagrana had actually went back to his home to retrieve an AK-47, which was the weapon used to kill Paris Gustin.
In February of 2017, Villagrana was charged with murder. 22-year-old Martin Antonio Cruz was identified as the driver and arrested and also charged with murder. Padilla-Lopez seemingly was not charged in the case. (As far as I can tell). He had been arrested the previous September in a separate case in which he allegedly rammed a patrol car in a stolen vehicle. Padilla-Lopez was reported to have confirmed that he saw Villagrana near his residence and that Villagrana had told him about the egg-throwing incident and with his gun stating that he was "going to look for the boys."
At the moment, only Villagrana remains at large in this case (as of this posting date of 2/1/2019), according to Utah's public access statewide warrants search.
Thoughts? I should note the other reason I know Villagrana is still at large as of this posting date is I saw a posting from a relative of Paris's to In Pursuit's Facebook page asking for justice. I just want to reiterate this is only an unofficial fan page with no connection to the show, but I do hope if any family member reads this that In Pursuit sees their messages (they seem to have a pretty responsive social media account). I read your case out of curiosity and was compelled to post after seeing how tragic it was.
Anyway, this case is ridiculous. Yes what Paris and his friends did was immature and not to mention dangerous and could have caused injuries, but they were teenagers. This is not to excuse their actions, but teenagers do dumb things. You don't condone those dumb things, but eventually most of them mature. The point is you don't take the law into your own hands and allegedly blast a 16-year-old boy with a frigging AK-47 (out of respect to make this about getting justice for Paris, I won't discuss Villagrana having an AK-47 to begin with) because he threw eggs at you.
This case reminds me of an AMW fugitive in the 90's, William Brandon Jr, who killed a 12-year-old boy because he was angry at a ding-dong ditch prank he was playing. In that case, Brandon was caught. I'm hoping the same happens with Villagrana and he will soon face justice for the senseless and tragic murder he allegedly committed.
Additional relevant links:
Utah warrant results: secure.utah.gov/warrants/details.html?index=6328851&fName=FORTUNATO&age=25
Articles:
archive.sltrib.com/article.php?id=4270736&itype=CMSID
archive.sltrib.com/article.php?id=4399210&itype=CMSID
www.deseretnews.com/article/865672820/Men-who-allegedly-shot-egging-teen-with-AK-47-charged-with-murder.html
fox13now.com/2017/02/03/salt-lake-city-police-make-arrest-in-rose-park-murder/
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