Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill announced a guilty verdict for five felony charges against Oliver Spencer Avila for the fatal shooting of Guthrie Serawop.
On February 1, 2023, the defendant went to a house where his brother Julio Steven Cardona was spending time. Cardona was in possession of a gun that belonged to Avila, and when Avila met Cardona on February 2, he asked for it back because he believed some people were looking for him.
After Cardona gave the defendant his gun, Mr. Serawop arrived at the home saying that he wanted to talk with the defendant. The two men went outside, and video surveillance shows they got into a conversation that became heated and turned physical. The video shows during the fight, the defendant took out his gun and shot at Mr. Serawop several times, nearly hitting Cardona and another witness as well. The defendant shot Mr. Serawop three times and grazed him with a fourth bullet. Medical personnel took Mr. Serawop to the hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries that night.
On November 15, 2024, a Third District Court jury convicted the defendant of first-degree felony murder, but also found that he acted in a manner where he believed his actions were justified in self-defense, but they, in fact, were not; that is known as imperfect self-defense. The court therefore entered the murder conviction found by the jury as one count of second-degree felony manslaughter. The jury also found the defendant guilty of one count of first-degree felony discharge of a firearm with serious bodily injury, one count of second-degree felony discharge of a firearm with injury, one count of third-degree felony discharge of a firearm, and one count of second-degree felony obstruction of justice.
Sentencing for the defendant is scheduled for February 12, 2025.
Mr. Cardona pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree felony possession of a dangerous weapon by a restricted person on August 1, 2023. A judge sentenced Mr. Cardona to 1-15 years at the Utah State Correction Facility.
“This conviction helps deliver accountability and justice for Mr. Serawop's family and loved ones. The jury's finding that the defendant had an imperfect self-defense is contrary to what our office attempted to prove, but we accept their conclusion,” said Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill. “We thank our prosecutors Ethan Rampton and Dayne Skinner, as well as our support staff, for their excellent work on this case. We would also like to thank the detectives at the Salt Lake City Police Department that conducted a thorough investigation that helped to ensure this conviction.”
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