Two more people sentenced for involvement in shooting death of West Valley City 15-year-old

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — Two people were sentenced for their roles in the shooting death of a 15-year-old in West Valley City back in 2023, and now seven of the eight people charged in the death have been sentenced.

Anthony Alexander Hernandez and Kimberly Alvarez were sentenced by a Third District Court judge on Tuesday after pleading guilty on May 1, 2025. Another defendant, Bryan Alvarez, also pleaded guilty on May 1, but on Tuesday, he withdrew his plea at sentencing.

The 15-year-old was found shot and killed in a crashed car on March 3, 2023 after police responded to reports of gunshots. Family later identified the victim as Francisco Jesus Cuenca.

Eight people in total have been charged in connection to this death. Four of those individuals were charged and sentenced as juveniles because they were under the age of 16, whereas the other four were charged as adults.

On March 3, 2023, police responded to 1378 West Caesar Circle in West Valley City after reports of gunshots, and when they arrived, they found a car crashed at the end of the cul-de-sac with around 20 gunshot holes.

Inside the car, they found Cuenca with multiple gunshot wounds, and Cuenca was taken to the hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.

Investigators uncovered video surveillance that showed two cars, one red and one blue, parked in the cul-de-sac. On the video, Cuenca arrived in his car, and the red car pulled up behind him. He drove out of range of the camera, but muzzle flashes could be seen on video coming from the red car. The red car fired more shots, and both cars drove off.

Reportedly, Bryan Alvarez was “beefing” with Cuenca at the time, and he wanted to hurt him. Through the investigation, detectives found that Bryan and his friends allegedly came up with a plan to rob Cuenca. However, when Cuenca arrived, they got out of their vehicles and started shooting.

In May, Anthony Hernandez and Bryan Alvarez pleaded guilty to one count of first-degree felony murder. Bryan Alvarez withdrew his plea on Tuesday, so he was not sentenced, but Anthony Hernandez was sentenced to 15 years to life.

Kimberly Alvarez was sentenced to 15 years to life for one count of second-degree felony manslaughter and 5 years to life for one count of first-degree felony discharge of a firearm with serious bodily injury.

In May 2024, Xavior Lunt was sentenced to 15 years to life after he pleaded guilty to one count of first-degree felony murder.

“In essence, we had eight individuals who were involved with multiple guns, engaged in acts of violence which resulted in the death of one person, and we’re finally bringing this to a conclusion with the conviction and prosecution of those three adults, and then in the process of hopefully prosecuting and convicting the fourth one as well,” Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill told ABC4.com.

As to Bryan Alvarez withdrawing his guilty plea, Gill said that they are moving forward with prosecuting him. Guilty pleas are meant to be entered knowingly and voluntarily, Gill explained, which means that if it was not properly explained, or something was promised on the record that was not delivered, those would be valid reasons to withdraw a plea.

Bryan Alvarez was assigned a new attorney, and that new attorney will have to file a motion explaining why his plea withdrawal should be permitted.

This case has gone on for over two years. “Sometimes these long homicides take some time, so it really tries the patience of family, so I think ultimately it’s about accountability, and they know that we are methodically getting that accountability from everyone involved,” Gill said. He added that he hopes the family and friends who are impacted in this case can “move on and not be defined by what happened.”