Police searching for killer in Midvale homicide
(Scott Sommerdorf | The Salt Lake Tribune) With bags of evidence sitting on the porch, Police investigators search an apartment at 6999 S. State Street, #1503, for further evidence of a murder, Sunday, August 26, 2012 in Midvale.
Crime » Gunman flees after gunning down man at apartment.
Unified Police on Sunday were investigating the overnight shooting death of a 31-year-old man at a Midvale apartment complex.
Police said the victim, Justen L. LeFave, answered the door of the apartment in which he was staying at 6999 S. State St. around 5:25 a.m.
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After opening the door, he talked with an unidentified man, police said. That man then shot LeFave and fled in a tan GMC Yukon with chrome rims and tinted windows.
LeFave was taken to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Unified Police Department Lt. Justin Hoyal said witnesses told investigators they didn't know the shooter.
"The impression we get is that [LeFave] didn't know him either," Hoyal said.
The slaying left neighbors at the apartment complex shocked and baffled as to who would want to kill LeFave.
Neighbors said they didn't hear any shots or sounds of conflict and didn't know anything was wrong until police knocked at their doors early Sunday.
Cambree Phommabout said LeFave had lived in the complex for almost three years and was a great neighbor.
Lefave shared the apartment with another man and the man's teenage son, who also reportedly were home when LeFave was shot to death, said another neighbor, Mercedes Fisher.
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"They are such nice neighbors," she said.
Phommabout said LeFave knew every child in the complex by name, and they would stop by to see him when he was outside with his dog, Peaches. She said Lefave adored the orange and white Pomeranian.
"He was the most friendly person who lived in this complex," Phommabout said.
Court records show LeFave's past includes a minor drug history. In 2008, he was charged in Taylorsville's Justice Court with one count each of possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia, both class B misdemeanors.
By midafternoon, police were still combing through the apartment where LeFave was shot. The apartment and part of a nearby pool were roped off.
Phommabout said police had discovered a pair of men's shorts and what looked like a T-shirt in a trash can near the pool, which is just yards from the scene of the shooting.
Police are searching for a bald, heavy-set white male with tattoos and no facial hair. Police are also seeking to speak with two women who were with the shooter. Anyone with information is asked to call police at 801-743-7000.
jstecklein@sltrib.com
Twitter @sltribjanelle
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