This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Two wanted men were charged with murder and aggravated robbery Tuesday in the May 27 death of Mauricio Martinez, whose body was found abandoned in the front passenger seat of a car in Cottonwood Heights.
The men, 36-year-old Lucas Troy Neilson and 25-year-old Alfredo Lolani, had been named as suspects in the case last week.
According to charging documents filed in 3rd District Court, Neilson and Lolani were gunmen at the scene of the robbery-turned-homicide in a business parking lot near 1000 S. Redwood Road in Salt Lake City.
Salt Lake City police have identified both Neilson and Lolani as documented gang members who should be considered armed and dangerous.
They are wanted on $1 million warrants have been issued for their arrests
Two other men, 26-year-old Marco Antonio Garcia and 34-year old Jorge Arturo Castanan-Serrano, both Mexican nationals, were charged earlier this month with similar first-degree felony counts of murder and aggravated robbery in connection with the case.
Garcia and Castanan-Serrano were arrested May 31 and have been held in the Salt Lake County Jail in lieu of $1 million bail, cash-only.
Garcia told police he drove alleged gunmen Neilson and Lolani to and from the scene and identified the men from a photo line-up, charges state.
Neilson is described by police as white, about 6 feet tall and weighing about 215 pounds.
Police say Lolani is Polynesian, 5-foot-11, about 240 pounds, with long braided hair.
Two men with similar descriptions were spotted on security cameras where Martinez was believed to have been killed, near 1000 South and Redwood Road, hours before his body was discovered, according to a June 1 news release from police.
SLCPD Detective Greg Wilking confirmed Tuesday evening that police believe Neilson and Lolani to be the men in the security footage.
Neilson and Lolani are the last outstanding suspects in the case, Wilking said.
But police have also asked the public to be on the lookout for 34-year-old Jamie Clarissa George, a "person of interest" in the case.
During the May 27 incident, Castanan-Serrano was responsible for luring Martinez and another man, who owned and was driving the car in which Martinez' body was later found abandoned, to the parking lot where Martinez was shot and killed, charges state. He told police the robbers intended to take money and the vehicle from the victims.
Martinez was in the front passenger seat and Castanan-Serrano, after leading the victims to the scene, climbed into the back seat of the vehicle, charges state.
The witness told police, shortly after they arrived, "people approached," and he heard "several gunshots coming from outside the vehicle."
He saw Martinez hunched over and bleeding and "quickly" drove away. Court documents do not clarify when Castanon-Serrano exited the vehicle.
The witness told police he intended on taking Martinez to the hospital, but realized Martinez was already dead, so he left his car and Martinez' body behind in a Cottonwood Heights parking lot near 6400 South and 3000 East, charges state.
A medical examiner determined Martinez died of a gunshot wound to the neck, charges state.
Homicide detectives have given Neilson and Lolani the opportunity to turn themselves in by calling 801-799-3000, according to a June 16 news release.
Police have asked anyone with information on the whereabouts of Neilson or Lolani to call 801-799-3000. Anonymous tips may be sent by text to 274637. When texting, police ask that people begin their text with TIPSLCPD, which routes it to the police department, and then include any relevant information. The case is No. 16-93368.
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