This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Days after he shot 16-year-old Kenyatta Winston and left the boy's body to rot in a shallow ditch, according to a police interview played in court Wednesday, Frank Reyos told a friend about it.
He said members of Winston's gang were coming after him for what he'd done, Trenton Taylor told detectives. He asked Taylor to borrow some cash, Taylor told police, and admitted to the slaying.
Jurors listened to a recording of Taylor's interview during the second day of trial Wednesday just moments after Taylor took the stand and denied having any memory of talking to Reyos or the police. Though the voice on the recording was his, Taylor said, he had no idea how it got there.
Defense attorneys pointed to Taylor's denials as shoddy evidence.
Reyos, 32, is charged in 3rd District Court with first-degree felony aggravated murder and second-degree felony possession of a dangerous weapon by a restricted person in connection with the Aug. 26, 2012, slaying of the Salt Lake City teen. If convicted, Reyos could spend up to life in prison.
On Wednesday, several witnesses took the stand and discussed what happened before and after a construction crew found Winston's body Aug. 29, 2012, near 1100 East and Crandall Avenue (about 2900 South).
Medical examiner Edward Leis testified that Winston died from a "contact gunshot wound," meaning the shooter had the gun pressed to the victim's head. The bullet passed through the back of his skull and lodged in his brain.
Traces of marijuana and methamphetamine were found in the teen's system.
Defense attorney told the jury during opening statements Tuesday that prosecutors can't specifically prove when or where Winston was killed beyond the testimony of one unreliable witness.
Shelby Glenda Reed said Wednesday that she had no idea how Winston died.
The last time Reed saw him, he was dropping her off at a party in Rose Park.
Reed, 21, had been seeing a lot of Winston — the two were dating, "kind of," according to prosecutors. She saw him nearly every day, she testified Wednesday. But after that night, she never saw him again.
Prosecutors have pointed to this party as the reason the defendant, Frank Reyos, shot and killed Winston. They told jurors Winston and Reyos went to the house where Reed had been to defend her against several east side men who had been harassing her for being from the west side of town.
When people started shooting at the party, Winston lost his nerve and ran. Reyos was beaten by a crowd, and grazed by a bullet, prosecutors said, and he wanted to hurt Winston for leaving him there.
Halfway through Reed's testimony, prosecutors asked that the jury leave the room. They told the judge that Reyos sent a letter to Reed, his niece, asking that she frame her testimony in such a way that would help his defense.
"We serve and protect our family because the law and government won't," prosecutor Bradford Cooley read aloud. "I swear I'm not mad at you — you got tricked into doing something you didn't know would cut me so deep."
The letter, intercepted by one of her caseworkers, had never reached Reed, who was in jail Wednesday for violating the terms of her probation. Reed pleaded guilty last year to a reduced misdemeanor count of attempted obstructing justice and was sentenced to probation and six months in jail.
Third District Court Judge Robin Reese ruled that the letter was inadmissible — for now. There was no proof the letter is authentic, and because Reyos hasn't been charged with witness tampering, it isn't relevant to the question of whether he killed Winston, Reese ruled.
Defense attorneys have said there isn't a shred of evidence to prove the prosecutors' allegations, except the testimony of a woman whose reliability they urged jurors to question.
The trial will continue Thursday with the expected testimony of Natasha Alvarado, 35, who allegedly witnessed the shooting and knew the location of Winston's body.
Alvarado was arrested and charged with second-degree felony obstructing justice in connection with the case for allegedly cleaning a motel room where she, Winston and others had been staying and doing drugs.
Reed, who helped Alvarado clean, testified Wednesday that there was a bullet they found on the floor — but it was probably tossed with other trash.
Twitter: @Marissa_Jae