PUBLIC RELATIONS UNIT

July 18, 2023

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Media Contact Information: PolicePRUnit@slcgov.com

Media Request Form: https://slcpd.com/mediarequest/

SLCPD Provides Update to Deadly Stabbing in April

SALT LAKE CITY — Detectives with the Salt Lake City Police Department’s Homicide Squad served a court-authorized arrest warrant on a 17-year-old juvenile accused of killing 28-year-old Oscar Vera.

Because of the juvenile’s age, no other information is being released.

This investigation started at 2:41 a.m. on Sunday, April 30, 2023, when SLC911 received information about a stabbing at 32 East Exchange Place. When officers arrived, they found a large crowd leaving and a man, later identified as Vera, on the ground with a critical injury.

Officers provided lifesaving efforts and paramedics and Salt Lake City firefighters transported Vera to the hospital in critical condition where he later died.

Detectives believe Vera was stabbed by the 17-year-old during a large fight that happened as people left a nearby nightclub.

On May 18, 2023, detectives booked 18-year-old Magaly De Jesus Bravo into the Salt Lake County Metro Jail on one felony count of Obstruction of Justice after giving detectives a misleading statement to either hamper or obstruct the investigation.

The Salt Lake City Police Department continues to have enhanced summer patrols in the downtown district to address public safety concerns promptly and safely. While the enhanced patrols are intended to deter crime, by having police resources concentrated in a focus area, the SLCPD can ensure an immediate response should an emergency occur.

The 17-year-old is currently being held in the Salt Lake Valley Detention Center on an unrelated case. Detectives added a charge of Murder in relation to the stabbing.

Charges are only allegations, and every arrested person is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

The Salt Lake City Police Department is not the custodian of record for jail booking photos. Utah Code 17-22-30 mostly prohibits the release of jail booking photos. Generally, a jail booking photo can only be released by the custodian of record after a conviction or when law enforcement determines the person is a fugitive or an imminent threat to a person or public safety. In Salt Lake City, the Salt Lake County Sheriff’s Office is the custodian of record for jail booking photos.

No further information on this case is being released. Neither the PIO nor the On-Duty Watch Commander are available for interviews.

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