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A West Valley City man was sentenced to 16 years to life in prison Friday for fatally shooting a 17-year-old boy in a case of mistaken identity on Interstate 15 near 2100 South.

Mohamed Daffalla Kabor, 20, was convicted last year by a 3rd District Court jury of first-degree felony murder for the June 24, 2007, slaying of Luis A. Trujillo.

Kabor was also convicted of second-degree felony obstructing justice and three third-degree felony counts of discharging a weapon from a vehicle.

Judge Judith Atherton ordered the murder and obstructing justice terms to run consecutively.

Atheron decried the "casual, almost incidental violence that young men feel enabled to inflict on other young men."

She also noted that when Kabor had testified at an evidence suppression hearing, she was struck by his "stunningly aggressive posturing attitude" regarding his participation in these events.

Kabor declined to speak at the Friday sentencing hearing.

According to trial testimony, Kabor and two other passengers were in a car driven by 19-year-old Samuel Paul Krokaugger, when Krokaugger identified the car Trujillo was riding in as belonging to someone with whom he'd had previous trouble.

Krokaugger then handed a gun to Kabor, who fired several shots at the car, according to testimony. Trujillo died from a bullet wound to the back of his head.

The victim's mother, Guillermina Rodriguez, said Friday she wanted Kabor to "stay in prison for the rest of his life."

Rodriguez has previously said her son worked as a roofer to help her raise her other three sons and was slated to graduate last year from Kearns High School.

Prosecutor Jon Shuman has called Trujillo and his friends "regular teenagers" who never had any prior run-in with Krokaugger.

Defense attorney Bradley Rich on Friday called Kabor "a bright, talented young man … who would not be here today but that he met and fell into the ambit and control of Mr. Krokaugger."

Krokaugger is serving up to 20 years prison for his part in Trujillo's death. He is also serving up to life in prison for fatally shooting 20-year-old Aaron Wheelwright on June 29, 2007. Wheelwright was shot when he tried to stop Krokaugger from robbing a drug dealer near a South Salt Lake apartment complex.

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