In the early morning hours of November 1, 2017, the body of 22-year-old Dan Zuniga-Guzman, a Hispanic male, was discovered in a street in West Jordan, Utah. Initially, some neighbors who heard a commotion believed it to be a car crash, but when police arrived around 1:30 a.m. near 6700 South and 4800 West, they found Zuniga-Guzman deceased from a gunshot wound. His mother had last seen him alive at 8:30 p.m. the previous evening, October 31, when he went out with some co-workers.
The subsequent investigation revealed that Zuniga-Guzman had been with Jesus Molina, 23, and Breaaunah Huff, 22, that night. Zuniga-Guzman was reportedly a friend of Molina's brother. An argument broke out amongst the three and continued as they were dropping Zuniga-Guzman off at his home. The verbal altercation escalated, leading to Zuniga-Guzman spitting in Huff's face. In response, Molina became enraged, pulled out a gun, and shot Zuniga-Guzman.
Following the shooting, Molina and Huff fled to Tijuana, Mexico. West Jordan police identified them as persons of interest and later charged Molina with murder and obstruction of justice, while Huff was charged with obstruction of justice. Working with Mexican police officials and the federal government, detectives were able to locate and arrest the pair in Tijuana without incident in December 2017. They were then returned to the United States to face the charges.
Ultimately, Jesus Molina pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of manslaughter, a second-degree felony, and felony discharge of a firearm, a first-degree felony. He was sentenced to prison for a term of one to 15 years for the manslaughter charge and five years to life for the firearm charge, with the sentences to run concurrently.
