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Court rejects convicted killer’s latest appeal over Ogden wedding party shooting

Posted at 11:02 AM, Apr 15, 2017
and last updated 2017-04-15 13:03:01-04

SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Court of Appeals has rejected another appeal by an Ogden man convicted of shooting at a wedding party, killing two people.

In a ruling released late Friday, the state appeals court rejected Riqo Perea’s claims for a new trial. He had challenged a lower court’s ruling rejecting his claims for post-conviction relief and new evidence he said he hand that would necessitate a new trial.

Riqo Perea (image via Utah Attorney General’s Office)

The Utah Court of Appeals rejected both on some technical grounds.

“Although the district court’s summary dismissal of his postconviction petition was the subject of Perea’s notice of appeal, he mentions that order only in passing and does not identify or brief any issues related to it. Accordingly, we affirm the district court’s summary dismissal of Perea’s petition for postconviction relief,” Judge Jill Pohlman wrote.

Perea previously had his convictions upheld by the Utah Supreme Court. He was convicted of two counts of aggravated murder and two counts of attempted murder for the 2007 shooting. Police said Perea was the trigger man in a gang-related drive-by shooting outside an Ogden home where people had gathered following a wedding. The shooting killed Resendo Nevarez and Sabrina Prieto.

Perea is serving life without the possibility of parole.

Read the ruling here: