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A 27-year-old man accused of killing two men — including his uncle —in a garage shootout in Sandy will stand trial on the allegations in August.
Alex Leroy Vasquez is facing felony counts of murder, aggravated murder, aggravated kidnapping, felony discharge of a firearm with injury, and two counts of buying, transferring or possessing a firearm by a restricted person.
Vasquez has pleaded not guilty to each of the charges. If convicted, he could spend up to life in prison.
On Thursday a 3rd District Court judge canceled a five-day trial which had been set for April and reset the proceedings for Aug. 28.
At a preliminary hearing last year, witnesses testified that in August 2012, Alex Vasquez had held several people at gunpoint in a Sandy garage, while another man, Simon Vasquez, frisked them for drugs or weapons.
Alex Vasquez' uncle, Paul Giovale, pulled out a gun and fired, causing the nephew to discharge his .38-caliber revolver. Giovale was struck by bullets in the chest, neck and upper back, and died at the scene, court papers say.
Simon Vasquez was also hit in the crossfire and left a quadriplegic. He died a few days later, but not before telling police that Alex Vasquez had initiated the gun battle, a police detective testified last year at a preliminary hearing. A third person, a woman, was also injured in the shooting.
No motive for the shooting was given in charging documents, but detectives said Simon Vasquez told them he believed the shooting was prompted by the alleged theft of a vehicle by two of his nephews.