SALT LAKE CITY — Over four months after a Utah fashion designer was shot and killed while attending a "No Kings" protest in Salt Lake City, his family claims they have been kept in the dark about the investigation, and question why charges have yet to be filed.
Afa Ah Loo was participating in the June 14 march downtown when he was hit by a stray bullet fired by an event peacekeeper at a man holding an AR-15 rifle. After receiving medical care on the scene, Ah Loo was transported to the hospital, where he died.
"My husband, Afa, believed that everyone, no matter their background, their status, or their story, deserved to be seen, heard, and loved," said Laura Ah Loo on Wednesday. "He touched lives across so many communities, and I felt the ripple of his absence in every single one of them."
Watch full Ah Loo family news conference below:
Attorneys representing Laura Ah Loo and her family claim city officials have not been cooperative since the shooting, and said they plan on filing a lawsuit to access material they said they have been denied.
"We're concerned in this case that our client has not been accorded her rights," said attorney Jim McConkie. "Our client has the right to be informed, and she has not received any official word on this case for months."
"Do we want prosecutors to be deliberate and cautious and careful as they make that charging decision and review the evidence?" attorney Richard Lambert asked. "Absolutely. But how long does it take?"
How far was Afa Ah Loo from peacekeeper when he was shot?
According to McConkie, Laura Ah Loo has not spoken with Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill or anyone in his office regarding the investigation into the shooting, despite the Salt Lake City Police Department having presented its case in July.
"The prosecution has a duty to move these cases along, because often, as is the case when you have someone who's been deeply wounded by a sudden loss, they have the right to know that the state is seeking justice and doing the right thing," McConkie added.
However, in a statement released Wednesday morning, Gill disputed allegations that his office had shut out the Ah Loo family.
“We met with them early in the process and explained that this review would take time. We have been open and available to any reach in from their counsel from our first meeting and continue to be," he said. "We are carefully working through a complex and nuanced legal analysis.
“We expect to reach a decision soon.”
During the news conference, the attorneys blamed the delay by law enforcement officials on Ah Loo not being one of the "social, political, business elites," and raised concerns over people forgetting what occurred and moving on.
McConkie explained that whatever lawsuit is filed by his office on behalf of the Ah Loo family in the coming weeks could target both the national and local groups that organized the "No Kings" protests over security issues at the event.
Laura Ah Loo shared how she is filing the lawsuit to ensure the grief she and her children feel is not felt by any families in the future.
"Staying silent would be easier, but silence won't bring him back, and silence won't protect the next event from a similar incident or the next family from getting the kind of call that shattered my world and my kids' world," she said. "Everyone thinks a shooting won't affect them directly until it does."
