Four homeless people have been arrested after a fifth member of their group was shot and killed while they reportedly tried to rob a home in Vineyard.
Police have identified the dead man as Robert Jalil Williams, 20, of Salt Lake City, who was shot after he and several other people entered an apartment intending to “assault a resident there with whom one of them had a prior disagreement,” according to Sgt. Spencer Cannon of the Utah County Sheriff’s Office. “While this investigation is still active, evidence continues to suggest the victim shot Williams in self-defense.”
The attempted robbery began Tuesday shortly after 6 p.m. when “a group of people” drove to Vineyard from Salt Lake City, intending to “rob and assault” a man who lived in an apartment near the intersection of Mill Road and Geneva Road, according to a probable cause statement. The suspects told police they believed the male resident of the apartment had drugged and assaulted a female friend of theirs, and that the victim had drugs in his home. “The plan was to assault the male resident, in revenge, and steal his narcotics,” police wrote.
According to police, one female suspect was apprehended at the scene. Other suspects fled in an SUV, which was later found in Salt Lake County. Four male and two female suspects were apprehended there; two of them were juveniles.
Four men – ages 27, 21, 18 and 18— have been booked into Utah County jail for investigation of robbery.
According to the probable cause statement, the suspects told police “their friend got shot in their presence and they tried to help him. Both became visibly emotional when speaking about it. … They thought their friend was deceased and got scared. They left their friend behind and fled the scene.”
The suspects do “not have a residence and are living on the street,” according to the probable cause statement.