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One of two Utah State Prison inmates charged in the March slaying of a fellow prisoner — who allegedly belonged to a rival gang — has been ordered to stand trial for murder.
Jeffrey Ray Vigil, 24, was assaulted and stabbed March 14 in a common area of the Draper prison's Oquirrh I housing unit and died the next day at a hospital.
Albert Collin Fernandez allegedly punched and kicked the victim, after which Ramon Luis Rivera allegedly stabbed, choked and kicked him.
Following a Friday preliminary hearing in 3rd District Court, Fernandez, 39, was ordered to stand trial for first-degree felony murder and second-degree felony obstructing justice.
Rivera, 31, is charged with first-degree felony aggravated murder — a potential death penalty offense — and two counts of second-degree felony possession of items prohibited in a correctional facility.
Rivera is scheduled for a three-day preliminary hearing in February.
According to charging documents, prison surveillance video shows Rivera confronting Vigil, and then shows Fernandez punching the victim and kicking him multiple times in the head.
After Vigil fell to the ground, Rivera allegedly stabbed him several times.
"For a period of time, it appears Fernandez is also attempting to block Mr. Vigil's escape from Rivera, during which time Mr. Vigil is being stabbed by Rivera," charges state.
Rivera placed Vigil in a chokehold until he became unconscious, then stomped on and kicked his head more than 70 times, charges state.
An autopsy concluded that the cause of Vigil's death was blunt force trauma and sharp force trauma.
Rivera allegedly told Unified Police Department investigators that the assault started over "gang s—-." The inmate allegedly said he had two knives, and that after the first knife broke, he started stabbing Vigil with the second one.
Investigators reported smelling a strong odor of bleach in Fernandez's cell after the incident and noticed the inmate had removed his shirt and shoes, which were bright white and smelled of bleach.
According to court records, Rivera was convicted in 2nd District Court of attempted aggravated murder stemming from an August 2009 shooting in Clearfield.
Fernandez's criminal record shows convictions for kidnapping, robbery, attempted theft and attempted possession of a dangerous weapon, among other offenses.
Vigil had a criminal history that included convictions for theft, possession of a forgery device, failure to stop at the command of police and drug possession.