3rd person charged in connection with fatal gang-related shooting in Millcreek
A third man who police say was involved in a gang-related shootout at a Millcreek convenience store in November that left one person dead and another critically injured has been arrested by police.
Yessa Harun Nena, 20, of Midvale, was charged Tuesday in 3rd District Court with obstruction of justice, a second-degree felony; failing to respond to an officer's signal to stop, a class A misdemeanor; and a no-bail warrant was issued. Unified police officers tracked him down Wednesday night and arrested him.
Nena's charges come nine months after Houssein Musse, 18, and Salman Farhan Ahmed, 19, of Salt Lake City, were each charged with murder and three counts of discharge of a firearm, first-degree felonies.
On Nov. 11, Talib "Kunda" Ahmed, 18, was shot four times and killed in the parking lot at a 7-Eleven, 4051 S. State, about 12:30 a.m.
Police say two vehicles — a Lexus and a Chrysler 300 — had entered the store parking lot at the same time. Musse and Salman Ahmed exited the Chrysler and began walking toward the store, according to charging documents. Talib Ahmed exited the passenger side of the Lexus and followed Salman and Musse into the 7-Eleven.
A short time later, all three men walked out. Salman Ahmed walked out first, followed by Talib Ahmed and then Musse.
"All three walked toward the north side of the building, when the shooting began," the charges state.
Three others who were in the Lexus then exited the vehicle and ran toward the fight.
"Two of those males, one of whom was later identified as Yessa Harun Nena, pursued Salman and Musse as they fled from the parking lot," the charges state. "When Nena reached the driveway into the parking lot, security video from an RV lot across the street captured what appeared to be a single muzzle flash coming from the area of Nena's extended arm."
The gun Nena allegedly fired had not been recovered as of Tuesday, court documents state.
The occupants of the Lexus carried Talib Ahmed back to their car and drove him to the emergency room of Intermountain Medical Center, where they dropped him off and then fled, the charges state.
"Talib was pronounced deceased shortly after his arrival. The driver of the Lexus began driving away from the hospital, and was pursued by Murray police officers. The officers signaled the Lexus driver to stop, but the driver refused to pull over and fled from the officers, who terminated the pursuit soon afterward," according to the charges.
Salman Ahmed was also injured in the shooting. Police say he was shot in the abdomen and taken to a local hospital in critical condition but survived.
When detectives questioned Nena in January, he denied being the driver but allegedly admitted he was in the Lexus. Surveillance video, however, showed that Nena was in the driver's seat, the charges state.
Prosecutors have requested that Nena be held in the Salt Lake County Jail pending trial due to his history of fleeing from police and not showing up to court. According to court documents, Nena fled from Murray police on April 16, 2022. He was charged in that case "but has failed to appear for at least four mandatory court hearings."
He also ran from Salt Lake City police on Feb. 8, according to the charges, but failed to show up for a court hearing in that case. In another case, he has failed to show up to court five times and has failed to show up to court four times for a charge in Taylorsville Justice Court, the charges state.
The next court hearing for Salman Ahmed and Musse is scheduled for Sept. 12.
Nena is the brother of 23-year-old Joshua Harun Nena, of Midvale, who owned the Lexus. Two days after the shooting, he called police and claimed his car had been stolen prior to the shootout, according to charging documents. When detectives questioned why he waited two days to report his car as stolen, Josh Nena allegedly said he was "going through a lot" with the death of his cousin, Talib Ahmed. When police pointed out that Ahmed was in the Lexus prior to being fatally shot and that they would be reviewing more surveillance video, Nena changed his story, the charges state.
Josh Nena was also charged with obstructing justice, a second-degree felony. He is scheduled to be back in court in November.
