West Valley City Police offer $5,000 reward for information in teen’s unsolved murder

WEST VALLEY CITY — Police offered a $5,000 reward Thursday to anyone who has information which will lead to charges being filed in the murder of a West Valley teen.

Please help us find who killed 16-year-old Fernando Aranda. Tips can be made anonymously. Call 801-840-4000 or email majorcrimes@wvc-ut.gov pic.twitter.com/QNFLBrkxTm

— WVC Police (@WVCPD) May 30, 2019

Fernando Aranda died two years to the day before police made the announcement.

The teen was walking near his home on Thayn Drive on May 30, 2017, when police say a group of males approached and assaulted him. Police say those males shot Aranda. He later died from those injuries.

Detective Ryan Morrill thinks the reward will provide an incentive for someone to come forward.

“There’s been two years since it happened and people’s circumstances change, and we think that now they’d be more willing to talk,” Morrill said.

People can come forward anonymously.

Morrill says they want to talk with two brothers who go by the street names Neto, Nieto, Necio, or something similar.

“We haven’t been able to identify them specifically. Not saying that they’re suspects or anything like that, but we do have information that they know what happened,” Morrill said.

Aranda’s mother and stepfather were at West Valley City Hall for today’s announcement. Azelia Salgado says her son was not a gang member. They also do not know who would do this to Fernando.

If you have information that may help police in this case, call 801-840-4000 or email majorcrimes@wvc-ut.gov.