Utah
Man pleads guilty to murdering University of Utah football player Aaron Lowe
The man accused of fatally shooting University of Utah football player Aaron Lowe pleaded guilty to murder charges on Monday, more than two years after police say he killed the cornerback outside a rowdy house party in Salt Lake City.
Buk Mawut Buk, now 25, pleaded guilty to Lowe’s murder and the attempted murder of a woman injured in the shooting on Sept. 26, 2021, Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill said.
Police say he fired multiple shots at the two during a heated argument after the football player asked Buk’s friends to move their car.
As Lowe, 21, and Fuamoli Pomale, 20, lay on the ground bleeding, witnesses watched in horror as Buk continued to shoot at them, according to court documents.
Buk is scheduled for sentencing on April 29 and faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years to life in Utah State Prison.
In exchange for pleading guilty, the judge dismissed additional charges of obstruction of justice and possession of a weapon by a restricted person, since he was already on probation.
“Though perfect justice would mean that Mr. Lowe was alive and the other victim did not have to live with injuries that will last a lifetime, we hope this conviction helps the loved ones of Mr. Lowe and the second victim feel they have received some measure of justice,” Gill said Monday.
The sophomore cornerback’s death came less than a year after his teammate Ty Jordan died of an accidental, self-inflicted gunshot wound on Christmas night in 2020.
The two had been high school friends and football teammates in their hometown of Mesquite, Texas, before they came to play for Utah. Lowe switched his college jersey to Jordan’s No. 22 after the running back’s death and was the first recipient of a memorial scholarship established in his honor.
About nine months after Jordan’s death, the Utes again mourned for one of their own after an off-campus house party meant to celebrate their win over Washington State erupted into violence.
Uninvited guests, including Buk, showed up to the private party and began causing commotion, police said.
Lowe and Pomale tried to leave the party just after midnight but found their car blocked by another vehicle.
As they argued with a group of men who refused to move their car, Buk walked across the street to retrieve a gun from another man and began shooting, court documents state.
Lowe died at the scene. The Utah State Medical Examiner’s Office later recovered four bullets from his body, according to the autopsy.
Pomale survived after receiving emergency surgery for multiple gunshot wounds to her neck and chest.
Buk, arrested that October in Draper, was already on probation for two robberies, including one in which authorities say he robbed a father and daughter at gunpoint.
Salt Lake City police said at the time of his arrest for the shootings that Buk had an “extensive violent criminal history” dating back to at least 2017.
Utah
USA's BIGGEST States… Utah NOT In The Top 10?
Many people believe Texas is the biggest state, and Hawaii is the smallest. Those people are WRONG! States are measured by their square miles. Have you ever wondered which states are the biggest? Utah ALMOST made the TOP 10 for BIGGEST STATES in the Country!
USA’s TOP 15 BIGGEST STATES (per square miles):
- Alaska: (586,000 square miles)
- Texas: (261,232 square miles)
- California: (155,959 square miles)
- Montana: (145,552 square miles)
- New Mexico: (121,298 square miles)
- Arizona: (113,594 square miles)
- Nevada: (109,781 square miles)
- Colorado: (103,641 square miles)
- Wyoming: (97,093 square miles)
- Oregon: (95,988 square miles)
- Idaho: (82,643 square miles)
- Utah: (82,169 square miles)
- Kansas: (81,758 square miles)
- Minnesota: (79,626 square miles)
- Nebraska: (76,824 square miles)
USA’s TOP 15 SMALLEST STATES (per square miles):
35. Ohio: (40,860 square miles)
36. Virginia: (39,490 square miles)
37. Kentucky: (39,486 square miles)
38. Indiana: (35,826 square miles)
39. Maine: (30,842 square miles)
40. South Carolina: (30,060 square miles)
41. West Virginia (24,038 square miles)
42. Maryland: (9,707 square miles)
43. Vermont: (9,216 square miles)
44. New Hampshire: (8,952 square miles)
45. Massachusetts: (7,800 square miles)
46. New Jersey: (7,354 square miles)
47. Hawaii: (6,422 square miles)
48. Connecticut: (4,842 square miles)
49. Delaware: (1,948 square miles)
50. Rhode Island: (1,033 square miles)
THE ENTIRE LIST OF THE USA’s STATES RANKED BIGGEST TO SMALLEST (per square miles):
- Alaska: 586,000 square miles
- Texas: 261,232 square miles
- California: 155,959 square miles
- Montana: 145,552 square miles
- New Mexico: 121,298 square miles
- Arizona: 113,594 square miles
- Nevada: 109,781 square miles
- Colorado: 103,641 square miles
- Wyoming: 97,093 square miles
- Oregon: 95,988 square miles
- Idaho: 82,643 square miles
- Utah: 82,169 square miles
- Kansas: 81,758 square miles
- Minnesota: 79,626 square miles
- Nebraska: 76,824 square miles
- South Dakota: 75,811 square miles
- North Dakota: 69,000 square miles
- Missouri: 68,741 square miles
- Oklahoma: 68,594 square miles
- Washington: 66,455 square miles
- Georgia: 57,513 square miles
- Michigan: 56,538 square miles
- Iowa: 55,857 square miles
- Illinois: 55,518 square miles
- Wisconsin: 54,157 square miles
- Florida: 53,624 square miles
- Arkansas: 52,035 square miles
- Alabama: 50,645 square miles
- North Carolina: 48,617 square miles
- New York: 47,126 square miles
- Mississippi: 46,923 square miles
- Pennsylvania: 44,742 square miles
- Louisiana: 43,203 square miles
- Tennessee: 41,234 square miles
- Ohio: 40,860 square miles
- Virginia: 39,490 square miles
- Kentucky: 39,486 square miles
- Indiana: 35,826 square miles
- Maine: 30,842 square miles
- South Carolina: 30,060 square miles
- West Virginia 24,038 square miles
- Maryland: 9,707 square miles
- Vermont: 9,216 square miles
- New Hampshire: 8,952 square miles
- Massachusetts: 7,800 square miles
- New Jersey: 7,354 square miles
- Hawaii: 6,422 square miles
- Connecticut: 4,842 square miles
- Delaware: 1,948 square miles
- Rhode Island: 1,033 square miles
One thing that caught my eye was how TINY Rhode Island is… at 1,033 square miles, it’s less than half the size of Washington County! WOW!
Utah
Jazz Insider Dumps Cold Water on Bronny James Draft Buzz
Buzz continues to surround the Utah Jazz as we stand just over a month from the kick off the 2024 NBA Draft.
And while the Jazz hold two first-rounders to start the draft at pick 10 and 28, a large chunk of the rumors revolving around Utah have been based on their use of their 32nd pick in the second. USC guard and son of LeBron James, Bronny James, was the most recent guard mentioned to have potential interest from the Jazz, effectively generating some hype surrounding the 19-year-old in coming to SLC.
The report inevitably made for some fun discussions of what possibilities next season could hold for the Jazz, but newly uncovered developments have seemingly brought the Bronny to Utah train to a halt.
Despite some chatter linking the Jazz with James heating up at the combine earlier this week, Sarah Todd of Deseret News reports that those rumors might be a whole lot of nothing.
“I looked into this as much as possible and although James impressed during the combine, it doesn’t seem like the Jazz are interested,” Todd said. “A number of team sources seemed confused about where the Yahoo Sports report had come from, with one source telling the Deseret News that the name Bronny James has never come up in any draft conversations among Jazz decision makers.”
Instead of looking towards the direction of Bronny towards the top of the first, the Jazz will likely turn their direction elsewhere. The USC product came out with a nice combine performance to boost his stock deeper into the second round, but Utah might not be his eventual landing spot.
In the event the Jazz don’t end up finding a prospect that they love at the top of the second, keep an eye out for a trade involving the pick. Danny Ainge remained confident that the team would remain aggressive this summer in a pursuit to improve this squad for next season, and the right move surrounding some picks down the board can effectively bring that.
All draft answers will be delivered for the Jazz when the big night officially arrives on June 26th.
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Utah
One killed in Utah County I-15 crash after hitting attenuator
AMERICAN FORK — One man was killed early Sunday after he crashed head-on into an attenuator on Interstate 15, authorities said.
The Department of Public Safety said just before 1 a.m. Sunday, Utah County troopers responded to the crash near milepost 278, on the Pioneer Crossing off-ramp.
Authorities said the man was driving a white Ram 1500. For “an unknown” reason, he drifted to the right from the left lanes, hitting the crash attenuator.
The truck caught fire after impacting and was fully engulfed in flames when emergency crews arrived. The driver was removed from the vehicle after the flames were contained.
He was taken to the hospital by helicopter in serious life-threatening condition. Authorities said hospital staff contacted investigators and said the driver’s injuries “were not survivable.”
All northbound traffic was shut down and diverted for two hours after the crash, authorities said.
DPS did not disclose the driver’s name as of Sunday morning.
This is a breaking story. It will be updated.
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