Font ResizeA 17-year-old Sandy youth has been charged with murder in connection with the fatal shooting of a man over an argument about an iPod.
Joshua "Ajay" Buie was charged in 3rd District Court on Friday with first-degree felony murder for the slaying of 21-year-old Stephan Jon Lasiloo on July 25 after the two got into an argument at a South Jordan party.
Buie and Lasiloo bickered over a stolen iPod along with several other people during a party on the 11300 South block of Brook N Lance Road, according to charging documents.
Lasiloo left the party with his sister and cousin while Buie followed in a car with two juveniles, charging documents state.
Buie told the driver of the car to stop as they approached Lasiloo and his relatives. The car stopped at 445 West and 11400 South, and Buie jumped out to confront Lasiloo shortly before 4:30 a.m., according to charging documents.
Buie pointed a revolver at Lasiloo and fired three to four shots, with two shots hitting Lasiloo in the chest, charging documents state. Lasiloo died of his wounds.
After pulling the trigger, Buie got back into car the and told the juveniles who witnessed the murder from the vehicle that, "I did it. I popped that fool," according to charging documents.
South Jordan police Lt. Dan Starks has said the incident may have been gang-related.
If convicted, Buie faces 15 years to life in prison. Utah law that mandates 16- and 17-year-olds charged
Last week, police arrested Buie's 51-year-old father, Wilbert J. Buie, on suspicion of obstruction of justice for allegedly trying to hide the teen from police in the basement of an Ogden house. Buie's father is being held in the Salt Lake County jail on suspicion of two counts of second-degree felony obstruction of justice and five outstanding warrants.
Alicia Cook, a spokeswoman for the Salt Lake County District Attorney's Office, said prosecutors do not anticipate filing charges against the two juveniles who accompanied Buie when he allegedly shot Lasiloo.
Records from 3rd District Juvenile Court show Buie has been charged with eight delinquent offenses since 2003 including possession of drug paraphernalia, possession of marijuana, alcohol possession, falsely reporting an offense, destruction of property, public intoxication and shoplifting.
Since being placed on probation in March 2009 for some of the offenses, Buie incurred three new misdemeanor infractions, court records show.
Lasiloo's aunt, Heather Shell, has said Lasiloo had lived in Vernal since he was a teen and recently had been laid off from a job welding oil pipelines. He and his longtime girlfriend have a daughter, 2, and an 8-month-old son. Lasiloo, a member of the Zuni tribe in New Mexico, brought his two children to Salt Lake County to visit family on Pioneer Day weekend.
"They were just kids at the wrong party," Shell said of Lasiloo and his relatives. "He's not gang-affiliated."
Court records show Lasiloo pleaded guilty in Vernal's 8th District Court in 2007 to possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia --both misdemeanors. He was on probation for those crimes at the time of his death.
