This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

A drug-deal-turned-robbery may be the motive for the deaths of three people who were shot inside an SUV in South Salt Lake in February, according to amended charges filed Friday.

Gerald R. Grant, 20, was charged in March with three counts of first-degree felony aggravated murder and second-degree felony obstructing justice for the Feb. 18 shootings.

On Friday, prosecutors added another charge — first-degree felony aggravated robbery — against Grant and alleged in court papers that the suspect told a friend he planned to rob the two men and a teen boy that he is now accused of shooting and killing.

Police were initially called to 325 E. Park Creek Lane at about 8 p.m. on multiple reports of shots fired, according to the affidavit.

When they arrived, they found a small SUV in the middle of the road.

Angel Lopez-Salinas, 20, was in the driver's seat, his 19-year-old brother, Lauro Lopez-Salinas, was in the rear passenger seat and 17-year-old Armando Cuenca-Curiel was in the back cargo area.

The two Lopez-Salinas brothers had both been shot in the head, while Cuenca-Curiel had a gunshot wound in his side, according to the affidavit.

Cuenca-Curiel died at the scene, and the two brothers died later at a local hospital.

The new charges claim Grant texted a friend on Feb. 18 saying that he robbed a man for a few hundred dollars the night before and "might have to do some lick tonight." A police officer quoted in the charging documents said a "lick" is a term used in connection with drug-related robberies.

Grant also got in touch with another friend on Feb. 18 and asked him to set up a "plan" for later that night, charges state. That friend set up a marijuana buy between Grant and the shooting victims. The friend then texted Grant, "Bring the 9ner we got work now." Police say a "9ner" is another term for a 9mm gun.

A 9mm Ruger was found near the scene of the shooting, according to court records.

Grant was shot in the leg on the night the three men died, and was taken to a local hospital for treatment. He told a friend who came to pick him up from the shooting scene that the men had tried to rob him and had shot him in the leg and that he pulled his gun "in self-defense and shot the males trying to rob him."

Grant is due in 3rd District Court on Monday, when a four-day preliminary hearing is expected to begin. At the hearing, prosecutors will present evidence and a judge will decide whether there is probable cause for the case to move forward to trial.