A Tongan suspected gang member has confessed to manslaughter in relation to two unresolved homicides dating back nearly nine years.
According to Salt Lake City’s Deseret News “Nitokalisi Niki Fonua, 33, pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of manslaughter, a second-degree felony, in the shooting death of 22-year-old Krystal Flores in July 2009”.
Fonua was originally charged in 2011 with murder, a first-degree felony, and aggravated burglary for Flores’ death.
At the same hearing Friday, charges were filed and Fonua pleaded guilty to manslaughter, a second-degree felony, in the 2007 killing of Viliami Latu, 34. Fonua told police he went to Latu’s Salt Lake home to settle a debt, an argument ensued and he shot the man.
Deputy Salt Lake County district attorney Vince Meister said that without a plea agreement, the charge would have been murder.
Each charge carries a potential prison sentence of two to 20 years in prison due to weapons enhancements. Sentencing in both cases has been set for April 18, where prosecutors will recommend the two terms be served consecutively, meaning Fonua could spend up to 40 years behind bars. They will recommend that credit be given for the five years Fonua has served so far.
Meister declined comment as he left the courtroom in light of ongoing cases against additional defendants still facing charges in Flores’ death.
Alexander Bloomfield, 35, and Pailate Lomu, 26, are charged with murder and aggravated burglary, first-degree felonies, in the death and have separate jury trials scheduled later this year.
Bloomfield is also charged with possession of a dangerous weapon by a restricted person, a second-degree felony. Court records indicate he rejected a plea offer from prosecutors last month.
George Angilau, 25, is facing first-degree felony charges of murder, aggravated burglary and discharge of a firearm, as well as third-degree felonies of discharging a firearm and discharging a firearm from a vehicle. No upcoming hearings are scheduled in that case.
In a 2011 preliminary hearing for Bloomfield and Lomu, an ex-girlfriend of Bloomfield testified that tensions had been high between the gang her boyfriend at the time belonged to — the West Valley City-based Baby Regulators — and a rival predominantly Tongan gang based out of Glendale, the Tongan Crips. A “brawl” had broken out between the two earlier that summer, and Lomu, who is also believed to be a Baby Regulator, had his house targeted in a drive-by shooting soon after.
A number of people — including Fonua, Bloomfield, Lomu and Angilau — were drinking heavily at a party in West Valley City on July 19, 2009, and becoming increasingly more angry about the rivalry, the woman said. The four men headed out looking to retaliate at another party they had heard about in Salt Lake City.
According to charging documents, an armed Fonua headed into the home at 1309 S. Stewart St., but realized it was the wrong house.
Others in the home took cover in another room when two men burst in through the front door and gunfire rang out. They didn’t witness the shooting but emerged to find Flores on the couch where she had been resting, wounded with a gunshot to the head. She died Aug. 2, 2009.
– Deseret News
