On a trip to Salt Lake City, Utah, for a sneaker convention, 41-year-old Delford Knight, a Black or African American male from Florida, was shot and killed on September 3, 2022, following a dispute over a betting game. The incident, which took place outside the Salt Palace Convention Center at approximately 3:19 p.m., led to the arrest of three suspects.
Knight was transported to a local hospital where he ultimately succumbed to his injuries.
Knight and his friends were reportedly involved in betting matches, described by some as a "shell game" or fraudulent card games, at the Sneaker Con event. An argument erupted after one of the suspects lost a significant amount of money to Knight. The confrontation moved from inside the convention center to the street, where it escalated into a physical altercation. During the fight, as Knight was attempting to back away with his hands up, one of the suspects pulled out a handgun and shot him. After Knight fell to the ground, two of the suspects went through his pockets, stealing his cell phone and a "wad of cash" before fleeing the scene.
The Salt Lake City Police Department quickly launched an investigation, which led to the identification and arrest of three individuals. Deng Mawut Buk, 22, was arrested on September 4, 2022. A second suspect, 21-year-old Joshua Goy Riak, was apprehended on September 5 following a traffic stop. The alleged shooter, 18-year-old Nogolweit "Nunu" Kug, who was initially at large, surrendered to police on September 6, 2022. All three men were subsequently charged with first-degree murder and aggravated robbery. Buk also faced an additional charge of obstructing justice for allegedly cutting his hair to change his appearance after the incident.
One of the suspects, Joshua Goy Riak, entered into a plea agreement and in February 2025 pleaded guilty to the lesser charges of manslaughter and aggravated robbery. In May 2025, he was sentenced to consecutive prison terms of one to 15 years for manslaughter and five years to life for aggravated robbery. The other two men, Deng Mawat Buk and Nogolweit Kug, were scheduled to face a joint jury trial on murder charges in July 2025. As of late 2025, the final verdicts for Buk and Kug's trial had not been publicly reported.
