In the late hours of July 13, 2024, a senseless act of violence cut short the life of Nuer Deng, a 17-year-old male of a tribe in Sudan, in what should have been an ordinary night in a West Valley City grocery store parking lot. Deng, a student at Judge Memorial Catholic High School, was sitting in the back of a car with two friends in the parking lot of a WinCo Foods.
The friends were simply looking at their phones when another vehicle, an Infiniti, approached them from behind.
Without warning, a passenger in the Infiniti rolled down the window and opened fire into the car where Deng and his friends sat. Multiple gunshots flashed in the night, and one struck Nuer Deng in the chest. His friends, realizing the gravity of the situation, sped away from the scene to get help. Deng told them he had been shot. They drove to a nearby neighborhood and sought help from residents, who called 911. Paramedics arrived and transported the teenager to a local hospital, but his injuries were too severe, and he died shortly after his arrival.
Investigators quickly determined that Deng was an innocent bystander caught in a conflict that did not involve him. The intended target was believed to be one of Deng's friends in the car, who had been involved in an ongoing dispute with one of the suspects over a former girlfriend. The conflict was also reportedly fueled by tensions between different Sudanese tribes. The relentless work of the West Valley City Police Department led them to identify two suspects in the fatal shooting.
Mare Biel, 18, of Glendale, Arizona, and Bevan Kuajian, 17, of West Valley City, were identified as the individuals in the Infiniti. Authorities allege that Kuajian was the driver and Biel was the passenger who fired the gun. After the shooting, both individuals fled the state. Law enforcement tracked them to Omaha, Nebraska, where they were arrested. Biel and Kuajian have since been charged with first-degree felony murder, obstruction of justice, and multiple counts of discharging a firearm. The community, especially his classmates and teachers at Judge Memorial, remembered Nuer Deng as a vibrant and kind young man with a smile that could light up a room.
