A homeless man has been charged with shooting a Utah woman to death on a Salt Lake sidewalk on Aug. 15.
Timothy Vaughn, 27, was charged in 3rd District Court with murder, a first-degree felony; and theft by receiving stolen property and possession of a firearm by a restricted person, second-degree felonies.
On Aug. 15, Alicia Baxter, 33, was shot in the head on a sidewalk at 800 W. North Temple.; she later died at a hospital. According to police, a witness told them she “spoke to a guy named Tim, who was selling sodas” in the area. The witness said she saw Alicia arguing with Tim, and she saw him “pull a gun from his waistband and shoot Alicia,” then run toward a TRAX stop.
A second witness told police Vaughn “walked up to him and asked him if he wanted to buy a gun.” The witness said he was sitting on the ground, and as he stood up “he heard a bang, looked up and saw Alicia lying on the ground” as Vaughn gathered his belongings and walked toward the TRAX station.
Both witnesses later identified Vaughn from a photo lineup, police said.
According to a probable cause statement, police found two receipts and a grocery bag from a nearby Rancho Market at the scene of the shooting; they were able to identify Vaughn from surveillance video at the store. UTA surveillance video showed Vaughn getting on a train nearby shortly after the shooting.
Salt Lake Police detectives located Vaughn in the Utah County jail, where he was being held on an unrelated charge; he allegedly got into a fight with another man in the parking lot of Provo Towne Centre Mall on Aug. 17 and threatened the man with a knife. Provo Police said Vaughn had a gun in his backpack when he was arrested.
According to the probable cause statement, “preliminary forensic testing determined that the casing found at the scene” of the shooting “was fired from the handgun,” which had been reported stolen on Aug. 13.
Vaughn is being held in the Utah County jail.
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