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Provo • The people closest to Meagan Dakota Grunwald took the witness stand Tuesday as prosecutors began wrapping up their case against the 18-year-old girl, who is charged as an accomplice in a two-county crime spree that left one police officer dead and another severely wounded.
Grunwald's mother, uncle, grandmother and friends all were subpoenaed by the state — but some were less than cooperative when asked to provide details about the then-17-year-old girl's relationship with her 27-year-old boyfriend, Jose Angel Garcia-Jauregui, and events leading up to the shootings Jan. 30, 2014.
Grunwald's mother, Tori Grunwald, testified that she didn't remember many of the things she told police after the fatal shootings. She said she couldn't remember telling officers that her daughter was having sex with her boyfriend and denies ever telling the officers that the boyfriend was living in their Draper home.
The mother also testified that on the afternoon of the shootings, her daughter called her several times, and they spoke on the phone once.
"I didn't realize it until after that she was calling for help," Tori Grunwald testified, adding that she didn't remember what exactly her daughter said to her that day.
While Tori Grunwald — who said she suffers memory loss due to a car accident when she was 13 years old — downplayed her daughter's relationship with the man 10 years her senior, Meagan Grunwald's grandmother, Renate Bolen, said she knew Garcia-Jauregui had been living in her granddaughter's bedroom.
Bolen said she several times confronted her granddaughter about her relationship with Garcia-Jauregui, adding that it frightened her that the man always kept a screwdriver in his back pocket.
"[I said] 'Do you realize what you are doing? He's 27 and you're 17,' " the grandmother testified. "She said, 'I know, but I want to be with him and besides, he makes so much money.' "
Several of Meagan Grunwald's friends testified Tuesday afternoon that the girl told them she wanted to be with Garcia-Jauregui and that he had given her a "promise ring." One of her friends, Rosa Smock, testified that Grunwald once asked her for "ice," which she understood was crystal meth.
Grunwald is accused of driving her pickup truck while Garcia-Jauregui shot out the back window at police officers and passing motorists that January day. Utah County Sheriff's Sgt. Cory Wride, 44, was killed, and Deputy Greg Sherwood was wounded.
Garcia-Jauregui was fatally shot after a high-speed chase ended in a gunfight on the freeway in Juab County.
Prosecutors claim Grunwald was a willing accomplice who would do anything to be with her boyfriend, and Tuesday's testimony seemed aimed at showing the two had a serious relationship.
The defense, however, claims Grunwald was forced to drive the getaway car after Garcia-Jauregui threatened to kill her.
Grunwald is charged as an adult with first-degree felony aggravated murder and 11 other counts: two counts of first-degree felony attempted aggravated murder, first-degree felony aggravated robbery, three counts of felony discharge of a firearm, two charges of criminal mischief, and one count each of causing an accident involving property damage, failure to stop at command of police and possession or use of a controlled substance.
Her trial is scheduled to end Friday, after two weeks of testimony. Prosecutors are expected to rest their case early Wednesday morning.
If the jury convicts Grunwald of any of the first-degree felonies, she could be sentenced to up to life in the Utah State Prison. She is not eligible for the death penalty because she was a minor when the alleged crimes occurred.
Garcia-Jauregui's brother, Gustavo Garcia-Jauregui, also testified Tuesday, telling jurors he had thought his brother and Grunwald were "happy" together and spent a lot of time together. However, he also said he didn't try to get to know the girl because he knew his brother had a history of going through women quickly.
"Meagan was basically the third girlfriend I was aware of since he had gotten out of prison [in 2012]," the brother testified.
Garcia-Jauregui served 4½ years in prison for a 2008 attempted murder charge, according to the Utah Board of Pardons and Parole.
According to court records, Garcia-Jauregui stabbed a man 21 times with a Phillips screwdriver after running him over with his car in Springville in 2008. After the stabbing, he assaulted another man with a tire iron or crowbar, causing a fracture to the man's face.
Court documents indicate that he was friends with the two men and had just left a birthday barbecue for one of the men, held in Provo. Garcia-Jauregui and the stabbing victim had been upset with each other throughout the day, after "making rhymes" at each other during a rap battle, according to court records.
Court records also show a charge of assault by a prisoner was dismissed as part of a plea deal. In that case, police say Garcia-Jauregui initiated a fight in January 2008 with another inmate while in the Utah County jail's intake unit. Garcia-Jauregui gave the inmate two black eyes and a bloody nose.
The day before the fatal shootings, an arrest warrant was issued for Garcia-Jauregui, Adult Probation and Parole agent Danny Platis testified Monday.
Platis said the warrant was issued after Garcia-Jauregui did not report where he was living and did not report that he had just lost his job.
Twitter: @jm_miller