Utah
Concertgoer dies in ‘freak accident’ at Utah music festival to see Post Malone
A festivalgoer was killed outside a popular country music festival in Utah when she was struck by a piece of falling debris from a nearby construction site while fleeing from the intense weather.
Ava Ahlander was outside Redwest Music Festival at the Utah State Fairpark in Salt Lake City when powerful gusts of wind ripped a large plank from a scaffold and sent it flying towards her, the Salt Lake Tribune reported.
The 23-year-old was evacuating the fairgrounds with other attendees and three friends to find shelter from the high winds when the massive plank fell about 30 feet as she and her friends stepped out of her car — crushing her and her vehicle.
She was rushed to the hospital with critical, life-threatening injuries, police said.
The young country music fan died from her injuries, a family representative told KSL on Monday.
Ahlander, who grew up in American Fork and had been living in Seattle, returned to the Beehive State with friends to enjoy the music festival and see Post Malone, her uncle, Bobby Ahlander wrote in a heartbreaking Facebook post.
“She just always loved having fun. It was really fun to be around her,” he told KSL.
“Honestly, it’s been excruciating. The grief and the sorrow, and of course, it’s such a big surprise; and it’s just such a huge loss.”
Her uncle said, as his niece and her friends stood outside the vehicle, the plank hit her in what he called a “freak accident.”
Though first responders managed to revive her at the scene, doctors later found she had no brain activity, he revealed.
Her family said she was kept on life support just long enough for them to say their goodbyes.
“Ava was a beautiful soul whose kindness, warmth, and adventurous spirit touched everyone around her,” family members wrote on a GoFundMe to help them with funeral and medical expenses, and to provide funds for her friends who witnessed the tragedy to attend grief counseling.
“Even in her passing, Ava continues to give the gift of life to others as an organ donor—a final act of generosity that truly reflects her caring nature and desire to help those in need.”
Ahlander’s love for music was matched only by her love for the outdoors, the ocean, and her life in the Pacific Northwest, her uncle Bobby revealed to KSL.
After graduating from American Fork High School, she headed to Oregon for college before settling in Seattle, where she’d fallen in love with her new surroundings.
“Ava was an absolute delight of a human being. Everyone loved her. She had the best smile,” her uncle wrote on Facebook.
SALT LAKE CITY — A California man in Utah, as part of his duties with the National Guard, is accused of trying to solicit sex from a young teenager.
Joshua Ruben Rodriguez, 29, of Fresno, was charged Tuesday in 3rd District Court with attempted rape of a child, a first-degree felony, and enticement of a minor, a second-degree felony.
The investigation began when an agent with the Utah State Bureau of Investigation posed as a 13-year-old girl on a “popular social media site … in an attempt to locate and apprehend adults attempting to have sexual contact with children,” according to charging documents.
On April 16, Rodriguez sent the agent a message — believing he was talking to a teen girl — that stated, “I’ll be direct with you, I would like to get to know you and (have sex with) your mind into a daze to where you feel like a woman,” according to charging documents.
When the “girl” asked if he had a problem with her age, Rodriguez replied, “I don’t have a problem with your age,” the charges state.
The agent told Rodriguez to meet at an apartment complex in Salt Lake County where the girl lived, claiming her mother would be gone. When Rodriguez arrived, he was taken into custody, the charges state.
“(Rodriguez) does not have ties to Utah. He is a resident of Fresno, California. (He) was in town as part of his military service with the California National Guard,” prosecutors stated in charging documents while requesting he be held without bail pending trial.
ST. GEORGE, Utah (KUTV) — One person was hospitalized at the St. George Regional Hospital after a car rolled and caught fire just south of the Utah-Arizona border.
The Beaver Dam and Littlefield Fire Department in Arizona said its crews responded to the crash near the Black Rock Road exit – roughly two miles south of the state border – on Sunday night.
Upon arrival, crews put out the car fire and found the driver had left the scene. A single occupant, who was able to get out of the car on their own, was transported to the hospital by a Beaver Dam ambulance.
MORE | Crashes
Their condition has not been publicly released.
Details on what led to the crash and the condition of the driver were not immediately available.
The Beaver Dam and Littlefield Fire Department said law enforcement investigated the scene.
BE THE FIRST TO COMMENT
_____
SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Jazz missed out on the NBA Playoffs, but still scored a big win thanks to a coin flip.
In Monday’s tiebreaker coin flip to determine who had the fourth-worst record in the league last season, the Jazz came out winners over the Sacramento Kings, who had the same 22-60 record.
Had the Jazz lost the coin flip, they would have been fifth in NBA Draft Lottery odds. Only the worst four teams are guaranteed to remain within the top eight of the lottery.
If Utah had fallen to fifth, there would have been the chance they could have dropped out of the top 8 teams in the lottery, and owed the draft pick to Oklahoma City, which was top-8 protected in a previous trade.
The Jazz now have an 11.5 percent chance to win the first overall pick in the NBA Draft Lottery, which is scheduled for Sunday, May 10.
-
Health6 minutes agoGrieving mom hospitalized with rare ‘broken heart syndrome’ after veteran son’s suicide
-
Sports12 minutes agoAustin Reaves nearing return for Lakers as Luka Doncic remains out indefinitely with hamstring strain: report
-
Technology18 minutes agoMichael and Susan Dell surpass $1 billion in donations backing AI-driven hospital project
-
Business24 minutes agoContributor: ICE raids and migrant pay cuts are devastating California economies
-
Entertainment30 minutes agoReview: Monica Lewinsky, a saint? This devastatingly smart romance goes there
-
Lifestyle36 minutes agoWhat are Angelenos giving away in one Buy Nothing group? All this treasured stuff
-
Politics42 minutes agoCommentary: He honked to support a ‘No Kings’ rally. A cop busted him
-
Sports54 minutes agoSun Valley Poly High’s Fabian Bravo shows flashes of Koufax dominance