Woman, cousin arrested after allegedly shooting ex-boyfriend’s Salt Lake City home

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — A woman and her cousin were taken into custody over the weekend, accused of firing multiple rounds toward her ex-boyfriend’s home with several people inside.

The shooting happened early Sunday morning near 1200 South and 900 West in Salt Lake City. Shortly after, Ana Espinoza Melgar, 18, and Caden Aries, 19, were taken into custody and booked into the Salt Lake County Jail.

According to court documents, Meglar had allegedly called her ex-boyfriend and “lured” him to come out of the house to the front yard. The victim told officers he turned around to walk back into his house when he heard “four to five gunshots” before the suspects drove away along 900 West.

Investigators say there were three other people inside the house at the time of the shooting, though fortunately, none were injured.

Melgar and Aries were safely brought into custody after officers performed a “high-hazard” traffic stop near 1000 South and Jeremy Street. The Salt Lake City Police Department reported finding a bullet shell casing that matched cartridges found in a gun that appeared tossed onto a nearby street.

The two suspects were each booked on third-degree felony charges of aggravated assault, obstruction of justice, and felony discharge of a firearm. The two also face three counts of misdemeanor reckless endangerment.

According to court documents, Aries also faces a third-degree felony charge of prohibited dangerous weapon conduct involving a firearm and misdemeanor operation of a vehicle without a license or registration.

Both have been ordered to be held without bail, pending a pretrial hearing, according to court records.