Utah man sentenced to prison for gang-related fatal shooting

A 20-year-old man has been sentenced to prison for a fatal gang-related shooting in Ogden in 2016.

Devin Brock Smith, 20, of Ogden, was sentenced Tuesday to 15 years to life at the Utah State Prison for the May 6, 2016, slaying of 29-year-old Miguel Angel Rios.

First District Judge Michael DeCaria also ordered Smith to pay $34,476.63 in restitution to the victim’s family.

Smith had pleaded guilty in January to first-degree felony murder. In exchange, prosecutors dismissed charges of second-degree felony tampering with evidence — for allegedly hiding the murder weapon — and third-degree felony possession of a firearm by a restricted person.

Jeremy Anthony Moncada, 18, who was with Smith at the time of the shooting, pleaded guilty to third-degree felony possession of a firearm by a restricted person and class A misdemeanor tampering with evidence/obstructing justice. He was sentenced last August to probation and 180 days in jail.

Ogden police have said both defendants have a documented gang history and that the victim was believed to have belonged to a rival gang.

Smith told police that prior to the shooting, he exchanged words and gang signs with Rios, according to charging documents.

And when Rios “flexed on him,” Smith told police, Smith shot the victim several times with a .22-caliber revolver, charges state. According to the online Urban Dictionary, to “flex” is “to show off.”

Later on the day of the shooting, police were called to an Ogden residence, they found Rios, who later died at a hospital.

Investigators arrested the suspects after learning they had been spotted running from the shooting scene to another residence.

Before police arrived, Smith had given the gun to Moncada, who hid it in a crawl space at the home, charges state. The two suspects also changed their clothing in an effort to conceal evidence of the crime, according to charges.

Both Smith and Moncada have been deemed “restricted persons,” for whom possessing a firearm was illegal. Each has prior felony convictions, and they both admitted to consuming an unspecified drug earlier on the day of the shooting, charges state.