In the winter of 2009, a simmering animosity between two students at Kearns High School erupted into a conflict that would tragically claim the life of a 16-year-old bystander, Esteban Manuel Saidi. On January 21, what began as a high school feud culminated in a fatal shooting on a side street just a couple of blocks from the school campus. Esteban, a male sophomore at the school, was not directly involved in the initial altercation but found himself in the path of a bullet that would end his
life later that night at Intermountain Medical Center, the cause of death being a gunshot wound to his abdomen.
The tragic events of that day were set in motion by a pre-arranged fight between two other 16-year-old students, Ricky Angilau and Erik Flores. Their long-standing dispute, which had festered since middle school, led them to meet for a physical confrontation around noon. As a crowd gathered to watch the brawl, the atmosphere was thick with tension, believed to be fueled by a gang rivalry. After Flores emerged the victor of the fistfight, the situation escalated dramatically. Feeling intimidated by the crowd, some of whom were reported to be Sureño gang members, Angilau produced a gun.
In a moment that would alter several lives forever, Angilau fired a warning shot into the air, causing the onlookers to scatter. He reportedly then gestured for them to return, claiming he was kidding, before firing two or three more shots. One of these bullets struck Esteban Saidi. After being shot, friends rushed him back to the school for help. About an hour after the shooting, Angilau and an accomplice turned themselves in to a school safety officer at a nearby home and were taken into custody.
The legal aftermath for Ricky Angilau was a lengthy process, with his case moving between the juvenile and adult court systems for nearly three years. Initially charged with murder, Angilau eventually pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of manslaughter. In September 2012, at the age of 19, he was sentenced to up to five years in prison for the death of his classmate. During the sentencing, Angilau expressed remorse and apologized to Esteban's family. Esteban's mother, in a display of profound grace, stated that she forgave him, while also lamenting that her son was not a gang member and was a good son with dreams for the future.
