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After prosecutors expressed concern over his influence over younger gang members, a 17-year-old Kearns boy charged as an adult with murder was moved this week from a juvenile detention facility to the adult county jail.
David Ivan Diaz, 17, is charged in 3rd District Court with murder and several weapons charges for the Dec. 23 death of 34-year-old Gary Hart. The teen's brother, 25-year-old Martin Daniel Diaz, of South Salt Lake, faces identical charges.
The younger Diaz had been held in the Salt Lake Valley Detention Center. But last month, prosecutors asked that he be moved to the Salt Lake County jail.
In court filings, Deputy Salt Lake County District Attorney Coral Sanchez-Rose argued that the teenager is a "high-ranking" member of the Nortenos street gang, and has influence over younger gang members that are housed in the same juvenile facility. The teen is also charged with serious crimes, Sanchez-Rose argued, and the juvenile detention center has no way to separate him from other youth being held on less serious matters. Additionally, witnesses to Hart's death are "court-involved youth," the prosecutor wrote, and are routinely in and out of the detention center.
"Because detention does not have the capacity to separate the defendant from potential witnesses or other youth in detention, it is possible that the defendant will interact with witnesses to the homicide," Sanchez-Rose wrote.
At a court hearing last week, prosecutors and defense attorneys agreed to the transfer to adult jail. David Diaz — who turns 18 in April — was booked into the jail on Monday, according to court records.
Utah's juvenile justice laws were amended in 2015 to allow youth charged as adults to remain in a juvenile detention facility until they turn 18 years old. A judge can order the youth to an adult jail, however, if the court finds it necessary to protect the public or other minors in the facility.
Hart, 34, was killed on Dec. 24 during a shooting at a Shopko parking lot, near 4850 W. 3500 South, that also injured two other men.
Prosecutors allege that prior to the shooting, younger gang members contacted David Diaz for assistance during a fight that led to Hart's death. The brothers are both accused of opening fire on Hart and the other men.
They are expected to be in court on May 15 for a preliminary hearing.