In the quiet morning hours of December 10, 2017, the life of 30-year-old Toussaint "TJ" LOuverture Tyler, a White/Caucasian male, was brought to a violent and tragic end in his Taylorsville, Utah, apartment. A former college basketball player who had relocated to Utah to be closer to his young daughter, Tyler found himself the target of a brutal home invasion fueled by a dispute over money.
The events of that day would not only leave a family shattered but would also set in motion a multi-state manhunt and a lengthy legal battle for justice.
The incident began around 10 a.m. when a woman, later identified as Tonita Vianay Rico, knocked on the door of Tyler's apartment near 742 W. Sunny River Road. Rico claimed that Tyler owed her money. When Tyler's girlfriend opened the door, two men who had been lying in wait—Shaun Eugene Fleming and another unidentified individual—forced their way inside. Fleming immediately took control of the situation, restraining Tyler's girlfriend in a chokehold with a gun to her head. The invaders then bound the girlfriend and two other adults in the apartment with duct tape. Their reign of terror extended to threatening Tyler's 4-year-old daughter, warning that she would be shot if her mother was untruthful about who else was in the residence.
The assailants then moved to the master bedroom, where they confronted Tyler as he was in the shower. They demanded he open a safe. A struggle ensued, and in the chaos, Fleming fired multiple shots at close range, striking Tyler in the chest and the back of his head, killing him. The cold and calculated nature of the act was further underscored by the fact that it all unfolded in the presence of his young daughter.
In the aftermath of the murder, Tonita Vianay Rico was arrested just two days later, on December 12, 2017. Initially charged with aggravated murder and aggravated robbery, she later reached a plea deal, pleading guilty to the lesser charges of manslaughter and aggravated burglary. Shaun Eugene Fleming, the man who pulled the trigger, fled Utah, prompting a search that ended with his apprehension in Palm Springs, California, in January 2018. Fleming's path to justice was a longer one. In March 2023, following a four-day trial, a jury found him guilty of a string of charges, including murder, aggravated kidnapping, aggravated robbery, and aggravated burglary. For his crimes, he received multiple life sentences without the possibility of parole in June 2023. The third suspect, the second man who entered the apartment with Fleming, has never been publicly identified or apprehended.
