In the late morning of May 29, 2022, a fatal encounter unfolded in the parking lot of the Taylor Gardens Apartments, a senior living complex in Salt Lake City, Utah. Forty-year-old Robert Barros, a male, drove his silver Chevrolet Impala into the parking lot at 1790 S. West Temple, unaware that he was being followed. Shortly after he parked, a white Honda Accord pulled in, blocking his vehicle.
A man dressed in all black, later identified as 41-year-old Jared Charles Lance, exited the
Honda and shot Barros. Despite life-saving efforts by officers who arrived at the scene around 11:44 a.m., Barros succumbed to at least one gunshot wound and was pronounced dead. After the shooting, the assailant got into Barros's Impala and fled south on West Temple. A second individual, who had been in the Honda, then moved into the driver's seat of that car and drove north.
Investigators determined the shooting was not a random act of violence. The motive appeared to be a dispute over the Chevrolet Impala, which the owner claimed Barros had borrowed but not returned. She had reportedly asked Lance for help in retrieving her vehicle. On the day of the shooting, Lance and an accomplice borrowed the white Honda to get the Impala back. Surveillance footage captured Lance leaving a residence in Kearns alone in the Honda before the shooting, and later returning in the Impala.
On June 7, 2022, police located and arrested Jared Charles Lance. He was subsequently charged with murder, possession of a dangerous weapon by a restricted person, and obstruction of justice. The investigation was aided by the discovery of both vehicles involved. The silver Impala was found abandoned in Kearns, containing the suspect's cell phone and identification. The white Honda was located near the scene of the homicide. In December 2024, Lance was convicted for the murder of Robert Barros and sentenced to 16 years to life in prison. During his sentencing, he expressed no remorse, stating he had acted in defense of his family. The identity of the second individual in the Honda has not been publicly released.
