Jonathan W.T. Buie, a 34-year-old Black man known to friends as "Miami," was remembered as outgoing, honest, and kind. His life was cut short on the late morning of Saturday, August 22, 2020, in Salt Lake City, Utah. The shooting occurred around 10:43 a.m. outside a Wienerschnitzel restaurant near 55 N. 800 West. Buie was struck by multiple gunshots and rushed to a nearby medical center, where he was pronounced dead.
The events began when Payton Lee Akridge, 26, and his fiancée drove
their silver Honda Odyssey van to the area, intending to buy heroin. According to investigators and surveillance footage, Akridge first got out of the van and approached a group of people on a park strip. He then returned to his vehicle, drove about a block away, made a U-turn, and came back. As Buie approached the passenger side of the van, Akridge, who was in the driver's seat, immediately fired approximately five rounds through the open passenger window. Buie tried to run but collapsed on the sidewalk from his injuries.
A witness who heard the gunshots followed the departing van and managed to photograph its license plate, providing a crucial lead for detectives. The information led police to a hotel on North Temple, where they located the Honda Odyssey in the parking lot. Investigators made contact with the van's registered owner, Akridge's fiancée. She told them that Akridge had been driving and that she was lying down in the back of the van when she heard the shots. When she sat up and asked what happened, Akridge allegedly replied, “He said I was a punk.” When she asked who, he answered, “Miami.”
After spotting police officers near the van, Akridge fled the hotel on foot. An alert was broadcast, and he was apprehended by officers a short time later in the vicinity of 100 South and 600 West. At the time of the shooting, Akridge was on felony probation with Adult Probation and Parole for a history of drug-related crimes. On September 4, 2020, prosecutors formally charged Payton Akridge in 3rd District Court with one count of murder, a first-degree felony, and four third-degree felony counts of illegal discharge of a firearm. As of that month, the case was proceeding through the court system.
