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Man accused of Midvale murders pleads not guilty

Posted at 6:46 PM, Feb 06, 2014
and last updated 2014-02-07 13:05:42-05

SALT LAKE CITY -- The man accused of killing three people in Midvale pleaded not guilty Friday, and his case will now go to trial.

The preliminary hearing for David Fresques, 25, began this week. He is facing three charges of aggravated murder and one of attempted aggravated murder.

Thursday consisted of a lot of emotional testimony. Each testimony painted a clearer picture of just what happened inside the Midvale home on the morning of February 12, 2013.

Police said three people were shot and killed that morning: Omar Jarman, Shontay Young and Danielle Lucero. Vicky Myers was also shot in the chest but survived.

During her emotional testimony, she pointed out 26-year-old David Fresques as her shooter.

"He was very nervous, he was trembling," Myers said of the moment Fresques allegedly pointed a gun at her and fired.

After being shot, Myers said she played dead because there was a lot of chaos, and she was afraid Fresques would come back to kill her.

Sister of shooting victim Omar Jarman, Cathy Candelaria, sat stunned in the court room. She said since her brother's murder, her life feels like a bad dream.

"You're sitting there and you think, ‘This is not my life. This is not where I thought I would ever be,’” she said.

Thursday's testimony was her first time hearing about the incident from people who were actually inside the house when her brother and the others were murdered.

She said she thought it would bring her closure, but Candelaria said she still hasn't gotten the answer to what she considers the most important question.

She said: "To me, the question is: Why? And nobody has said anything really to address the whys. I think we all have our own assumptions, but I don't know if we'll ever know.”

A medical examiner and three others also testified: one was Ester Arredondo, the woman who lived in that Midvale home at the time of the shooting. She said after she saw Shontay Jones get shot in the living room she locked herself in the bathroom and hid in the tub until Fresques had left.