Stolen Lexus allegedly involved in a shooting in Salt Lake. Photo courtesy KSL-TV.
SALT LAKE CITY — Two brothers that were previously convicted of the murder of West Valley Police Officer Cody Brotherson are in new legal trouble. Christopher Boggs, 18, has been booked into the Salt Lake County Jail on suspicion of theft by receiving stolen property. His 17-year-old brother Lawrence Boggs was transported to the hospital with gunshot wounds early Monday morning.
The new charges are related to a party that began Friday night and went into Saturday morning at the Extended Stay hotel in West Valley City at 2310 West and City Center Court. During the course of the party, there was a disagreement between two different parties where shots were fired. Police describe the situation as a chaotic event with many people screaming and running with multiple gunshots fired on the third floor of the hotel.
“It is reported that during Boggs’ visit, he encountered a group of people who were also staying in a room at the hotel and an argument occurred,” a statement from police said. “Mr. Boggs reportedly invited his own associates to also come to the hotel, after which, a fight with the rival group broke out that led to the gunfire incident.”
West Valley Police had been on a search for the younger Boggs brother since Saturday morning after that shootout where it was reported that another 17-year-old was shot. They were intending to arrest him for attempting to incite a riot.
Early on Monday morning police responded to what appeared to be a different shooting in a Salt Lake neighborhood which authorities say was tied to the Boggs’ previous events in West Valley over the weekend.
Sgt. Keith Horrocks with the Salt Lake City Police Department, “We had some blood in the road and then a bullet that was next to a gun that was in the road.”
During their investigation, the two brothers were found in a stolen Lexus around 3 am speeding over 100 miles an hour on Redwood Road. The vehicle was driven by 18-year-old, Christopher Boggs who was arrested and taken to the Salt Lake County jail.
Police say his younger brother Lawrence was in the passenger seat with a gunshot wound. He was taken to an area hospital in critical condition.
Since then, Lawrence Boggs was upgraded from critical to serious condition.
A police probable cause statement says the stolen Lexus the Boggs’ was in was seen in the same area of 900 South and 1400 West around the time of the shooting in the road.
“We believe those two incidents are related and our detectives are just investigating that and trying to put together all those leads to see how that happened — how they got from Glendale to West Valley and what sort of precipitated all of that,” said Sgt. Keith Horrocks.
Both brothers were involved and convicted in the death of West Valley Officer Cody Brotherson who was hit by a stolen vehicle by suspects fleeing from police in November of 2016.
In an interview with KSL-TV Brotherson’s mother, Jenny says she was nervous about the brothers being released early from custody and returning to gang activity.
The brothers had their cases moved up to adult court because of separate assaults in juvenile detention, which led to their early releases several years before their 21st birthdays.
“It brings up some of the real bad yuck feelings from when he was killed and it makes you miss him,” said Brotherson’s mother, Jenny.
“I will never forgive or forget who they were,” Brotherson added, saying that these new cases build a stronger case for reform.
“We need tougher laws when there’s gang involvement, violence, and when there’s a death.”