In the pre-dawn hours of August 2, 2017, 14-year-old Romeo Rodriguez was sitting in the back seat of a pickup at Kings Point Park in West Valley City when at least one gunshot tore through the windshield and struck him in the face. Friends drove him to Jordan Valley Medical Center’s West Valley Campus and he was flown to Primary Children’s Hospital, where he died on August 3, 2017, just days before his fifteenth birthday.

Neighbors reported hearing multiple shots around 3 a.m. Police initially investigated whether the confrontation was gang-related, saying it may have been tied to a perceived gang affiliation. About a week later officers arrested 18-year-old Frank Tsinnijinne and charged him with murder, two counts of discharging a firearm, and obstruction of justice. In 2021 he pleaded guilty to a reduced manslaughter charge and was sentenced to one to 15 years.

Romeo’s parents and nine siblings spoke at sentencing about the loss of the boy they described as the heart of their family. If anyone has information about the shooting or remembers that night at Kings Point Park, please come forward.