In the pre-dawn hours of December 7, 2019, the body of a 31-year-old Hispanic male, Jesus Vasquez, was discovered in the passenger seat of his Nissan Frontier pickup truck. The vehicle was parked in the quiet lot of a meetinghouse of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in West Valley City, a suburb of Salt Lake City. A passerby noticed the unresponsive figure just before 6 a.m. and alerted the authorities.
First responders arrived swiftly but could only confirm that Vasquez was deceased. Investigators immediately suspected foul play, noting that he had sustained multiple injuries indicative of homicidal violence.
An autopsy would later reveal the brutal nature of his death; Vasquez had been shot in the stomach and also suffered stab wounds to his right thigh and forehead. West Valley police quickly determined that the church parking lot was not the scene of the crime but rather a calculated drop-off point. They believed he had been killed elsewhere, placed in his own truck, and then driven to the location where he was ultimately found. The investigation led detectives to the West Valley apartment Vasquez shared with his girlfriend. She told police he had left the previous night, ostensibly to get gas, but she suspected he was going to buy drugs, a reason he had used in the past. At the apartment, investigators collected potential evidence, including a piece of sheetrock with a suspected bullet hole and swabs from a substance that appeared to be blood.
For nearly a year, the case remained under active investigation with no arrests made. Then, in October 2020, a break in the case led to charges against two men who were already incarcerated on other matters. Jonathan Alexander Morales-Lopez, 19, and Jose Luis "Taku" Amaya-Urquijo, 23, were charged with murder, aggravated robbery, and obstruction of justice. Amaya-Urquijo faced additional charges for discharging a firearm causing serious injury and possession of a weapon by a restricted person.
The investigation had unraveled a fatal setup. Detectives discovered that a woman had arranged for Vasquez to meet her in a shed, where Morales-Lopez and Amaya-Urquijo were waiting. An altercation ensued, reportedly over money and drugs. One witness told police that Amaya-Urquijo pointed a gun at Vasquez, demanding money and drugs he believed Vasquez was carrying. As Vasquez attempted to flee, Amaya-Urquijo allegedly shot him. Following the shooting, Morales-Lopez claimed he was forced by Amaya-Urquijo to help put Vasquez's body into the truck. Forensic analysis of a gun found on Amaya-Urquijo at the time of a later arrest, along with DNA evidence from Vasquez's truck, ultimately linked the two men to the murder.
