Murder Convictions for 2017 Kearns Shooting and Fatal Crash

On September 19, 2017, gang-involved individuals in a stolen truck did a drive-by shooting of a rival gang member’s home in Kearns. After the shooting, the truck ran a stop sign and hit a car driving through an intersection. The two people in the car, Lloyd Pace and Tami Woodard, were killed due to that crash. Last week, a Third District Court jury found three of the men in the truck guilty for the fatal car crash and shooting.

 

The jury convicted Jose Mancia, Rosalio Alvarez and Argenis Ramirez Saedt on two counts of first-degree felony murder and one count of second-degree felony discharge of a firearm. The jury also found both Mr. Saedt and Mr. Mancia guilty of one count of second-degree felony theft by receiving stolen property. 

 

“Lloyd Pace and Tami Woodard were innocent people passing by the scene of this shooting and got caught in the middle of gang violence that took their lives. Our hearts go out to their families and loved ones for the loss they have endured,” said Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill. “We would like to thank the Metro Gang Unit and the Unified Police Violent Crimes Unit for their thorough investigation and the Kearns community for rallying to hold these defendants accountable. The Kearns community members’ willingness to testify at trial, despite fear, played an important part in this trial. We would like to thank our lead prosecutors on this case Brad Cooley, Morgan Vedejs, Rori Stokes and their support staff for the years of hard work and commitment that lead to this successful prosecution.”