In the pre-dawn hours of Christmas Eve in 2016, a tragic and violent encounter in a West Valley City, Utah, parking lot claimed the life of 34-year-old Gary Hart, a male resident of the city. The events of that morning began at a nearby house party, which had grown loud and eventually dispersed. Following the party's conclusion, Hart, along with his wife and a few others, got into a minivan to ensure that all the guests had left the area.
Their drive led them to the parking lot of a
local Shopko store, located at 4850 W. 3500 South, where they came across a black car. Inside the second vehicle were two cousins, 25-year-old Martin Daniel Diaz and 17-year-old David Ivan Diaz. An altercation quickly erupted between the occupants of the two vehicles. The Diaz cousins reportedly questioned Hart's group about their gang affiliation. When someone from the minivan responded, both Martin and David Diaz are said to have opened fire on the van.
In the ensuing chaos, Gary Hart was struck by a bullet to the chest and died at the scene. Another man in the minivan, Ernest Jones, was hit by multiple gunshots and was critically injured but survived. A third individual sustained a minor injury. The shooters fled the scene, leaving a scene of bloodshed in the desolate parking lot.
West Valley City police investigators quickly identified the suspects. Martin Daniel Diaz was arrested and booked into the Salt Lake County Jail on charges including first-degree felony murder and two counts of attempted murder. His younger cousin, David Ivan Diaz, also known as "Lil Knuckles," was taken into custody and booked into a juvenile detention center. Despite his age, David Diaz was later charged as an adult with first-degree felony murder and seven other first-degree felonies related to the discharge of a firearm with serious bodily injury. The motive for the shooting was determined to be gang-related.
