KEARNS, Utah — A new suspect connected to a shooting in Kearns was arrested Friday after being charged with attempted aggravated murder.
As FOX 13 News previously reported, the shooting happened around 1:30 p.m. on March 19 in the area of 4055 West 4865 South, with three other suspects, all with gang affiliations, being arrested back in June.
According to court documents filed Wednesday by the Salt Lake County District Attorney's Office, this new arrest came about after a known member of a rival gang was arrested in a separate incident in Sandy.
As officers in Sandy searched their vehicle, they found pieces of paper that, according to the probable cause statement, were used to relay information between gang members inside corrections facilities to members on the outside.
The papers were handed off to the detectives with Unified Police. One of them listed a series of phone numbers next to gang monikers, whom detectives recognized as current shot-callers and other named leaders. One of those numbers was traced to Lauriano Robert Herrera, 31.
Detectives then found communication records from the Utah Department of Corrections that confirmed Herrera's identity as a gang member. Those included communications between Herrera and the three previously arrested suspects; Jose Gutierrez-Gonzalez, 28, Diego Cruz Soto, 18, and Angel Garcia Cortes, 20, that took place before and after the March shooting. Detectives found Herrera had been in continuous contact with Gutierrez-Gonzalez leading up to the latter's arrest in June.
Herrera is currently being held without bail, pending trial.
