WVC Police

CORRECTION: post 3/5 should read “Martinez’s companion” drove him to the emergency center.

5/5 Avila was booked on multiple outstanding felony warrants and several new charges, including aggravated murder.

4/5 Investigators identified Avila as the suspect in the shooting, tracked him to an apartment in Taylorsville and arrested him.

3/5 Avila’s companion, who was driving the vehicle, left the scene and took Martinez to the emergency center across the street. Martinez was then transferred to a full-service hospital, where he died the following evening.

2/5 During the meeting, 26-year-old Ryley Avila of Taylorsville shot Martinez, who was sitting in the back passenger seat of his own vehicle. Investigators have not determined why Avila fired.

HOMICIDE UPDATE: 1/5 Investigators have arrested a suspect in a shooting that killed 24-year-old Abraham Martinez. On Oct. 24, 2026, Martinez arranged to meet a group of people in the parking lot at 3122 South 5600 West.

The suspect in the officer involved critical incident on Sunday, 10/25/26, has been identified as 40 year old Sebastian Cerda-Monti, whose last known residence was in South Salt Lake.

A full investigation into this incident is underway. It is being conducted by the West Jordan Police Department’s protocol team. The officer involved is on administrative leave as is standard procedure in an officer involved critical incident. 4/4

Officers immediately began lifesaving efforts. Fire arrived & took over. Ultimately, the suspect was pronounced deceased. Witnesses on the scene are being interviewed. Witnesses initially describe suspect as running at the officer with large metal objects in both hands. 3/4

Officers arrived and encountered the man. An officer called out that the man was armed with a large metal rod. Moments later, the officer called out that he had deployed pepper spray, and just moments after that came a call that shots had been fired. 2/4

Officers were dispatched to the Towneplace Suites at 5473 W Highmarket Dr at about 8:45 am. Employees of the hotel accessed an outbuilding used for storage & found a man inside. They described the man as armed with a large stick and reported he was threatening to shoot them. 1/4

Officer involved critical Incident at 5473 West High Market Drive. PIO en route.

Two motorists reported they had struck the decedent. Both were cooperative and remained on scene. The decedent was identified as 62-year-old Rigoberto Castillo-Hernandez of West Valley City. The accident remains under investigation. 2/2

At about 10:30pm on 10/3, Officers were dispatched on an auto-pedestrian crash in the southbound lanes of Mountain View Corridor at 4800 S. Upon arrival, officers found a male deceased in the roadway. The accident investigations team responded to conduct the investigation. 1/2

The school was notified last night about the incident, and questions about any closures can be directed to American Preparatory Academy.

The deceased person inside the vehicle has not been identified at this time, and investigators are following up on this incident. Any updates will be posted here.

Witnesses told officers they saw the vehicle driving at a high rate of speed eastbound on 3100 South. The vehicle left the roadway, jumped the curb at the south side of the school, and hit the building before catching fire.

When officers arrived on scene, they found a single vehicle engulfed in flames. West Valley City Fire Department responded and quickly put out the fire. One person was found inside the vehicle dead.

Just before 11pm on 9/14/26, officers were dispatched to a single-vehicle crash into American Preparatory Academy located at 3636 West 3100 South.

We are investigating any possible motives and any possible relationship between the suspect and victim. We will not be conducting any media interviews on this case at this time and will release any additional information here.