PUBLIC RELATIONS UNIT

January 4, 2024

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Media Contact Information: PolicePRUnit@slcgov.com

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

SLCPD Detectives Arrest Man for Sugar House Murder

SALT LAKE CITY — Detectives with the Salt Lake City Police Department’s Homicide Squad have arrested a 19-year-old man in connection to a murder in the Sugar House neighborhood.

This investigation started at 1:34 a.m. on Sunday, September 10, 2023, when SLC911 received several 9-1-1 calls about a shooting at 909 East 2100 South.

Officers found 18-year-old J’kye Lovell Ray Watkins on the ground and started life-saving efforts. Paramedics took him to the hospital where he later died.

Detectives believe Watkins attended an event at a private party venue when he got in a fight with a group of men.

The men who fought with Watkins left the party and began circling the area in a gray Nissan Sentra.

As Watkins walked through a parking lot, the driver of the Nissan turned off their headlights and turned around. The Nissan entered the parking lot and the driver and front passenger both shot Watkins before driving away.

During their investigation detectives learned the driver of the Nissan was Felix Diego-Rufino.

Detectives arrested Diego-Rufino and booked him into the Salt Lake County Metro Jail on one count of murder.

The investigation is ongoing and additional arrests may be forthcoming.

Anyone with information about this case should call 801-799-3000 and reference case 23-03839.

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.

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