A 16-year-old boy was found guilty Monday in connection with the fatal 2024 shooting of a teen near Holladay’s Mount Olympus trailhead, the Salt Lake County district attorney’s office confirmed.
More than a year after 18-year-old Naod Welday was shot and killed in the trailhead parking lot on Aug. 3, 2024, the young defendant — who was 15 at the time of his arrest — became the first of four people charged in the case to be convicted.
The child hasn’t been identified because he is a minor, which is also why his court records aren’t publicly accessible. But after his conviction, Salt Lake County Sheriff Rosie Rivera said Tuesday during a Salt Lake County Council meeting that he “will be sentenced for murder and aggravated assault and a felony discharge of a firearm.”
The three others charged in the case have pleaded not guilty and are expected to go to trial in June, court records indicate. They are: Christian de la Rosa, now 19, of West Jordan; Mateo Heriberto Martinez, 22, of Salt Lake City; and Alex Daniel Ruiz-Martinez, 20, of West Valley City.
De la Rosa was 17 at the time of his arrest and is being tried as an adult.
The three men face a slate of first-degree felony charges, including murder, aggravated kidnapping and firing a gun causing serious injury, along with other second-degree and misdemeanor assault charges, court records show. Each charge carries gang-enhancement penalties if they’re convicted.
On the day of the shooting, Welday, his cousin and a friend were all in the trailhead parking lot at around 4:30 a.m. when two men approached them and asked what gang they were in, according to charging documents.
When the group said they weren’t in a gang, Welday’s cousin was punched in the face and ran away to hide.
From his hiding spot, the cousin watched as the men got into cars and slowly circled Wasatch Boulevard, seemingly searching for him, the charging documents state.
When the cars returned toward the parking lot, he called Welday and the friend to warn them to stay in the car, the filing states. The keys were still in his pocket, so no one could drive away, he told officers.
While still on the phone, the cousin heard someone banging on the car windows and called 911, the filing states.
Welday was in the driver’s seat with his friend in the passenger seat, and the doors were locked, according to charging documents, but moments later, the rear driver’s side window was smashed and four assailants forced the doors open, attacking the two.
The passenger was struck with a hammer and fell to the ground in front of the vehicle, the charging documents state.
When he saw an assailant preparing to strike him again, he rolled over a nearby retaining wall, dropped to the road below and ran across Interstate 215 to get help, the filing states.
When deputies arrived with the Salt Lake County Sheriff’s Office, Welday’s body was found in the driver’s seat.