SALT LAKE CITY — A Tooele man has been charged with murder after being arrested in connection to the random killing of a woman in Salt Lake City three years ago.
Oakland Alope Faamoe, 31, is charged in the 3rd District Court with murder, a first-degree felony; obstruction of justice, a second-degree felony; and two counts of felony discharge of a firearm, a third-degree felony.
On Jan. 23, 2022, Salt Lake police responded to a shooting at 130 S. 800 West where they located Anetupou Niualiku, 50, in the driver’s seat of a parked car with a bullet wound behind her left ear. Niualiku was pronounced dead at the scene.
Niualiku’s boyfriend told police they had been at a “Kava party” until after 1 a.m. then went to smoke weed with a friend at a motel on North Temple, according to the charges. The two were told to leave the motel after getting into an argument with the friend over money and they drove to a parking lot at 130 S. 800 West.
About 10 minutes later, a car drove by and Niualiku was shot in the head, the charges state.
Using surveillance video from a construction company near the crime scene, detectives learned a white Hyundai Sonata drove past the construction site and was seen fleeing the area. A picture of the vehicle was released as part of the investigation in March.
In September 2024, a confidential informant divulged to police he or she was told by Michael Tifi Trevino that Trevino and Faamoe were in the suspect vehicle at the time of the shooting.
“The (informant) was told by Trevino that Faamoe was upset and shot at a random vehicle which caused the death of (Niualiku),” the charges state.
A second witness related to Trevino also said he or she was told by Trevino that he was present when Faamoe shot and killed the woman, the charges allege.
Trevino and Faamoe are “known associates,” and Faamoe had been driving a white Hyundai Sonata in 2022, the charges state. Detectives tracked down the vehicle, and although it had been scrapped in 2023, photographs of the vehicle matched the one in surveillance video the night of the shooting.
Phone location data showed Faamoe was in the area of the shooting that night, and he followed the same path of travel the suspect vehicle took when fleeing, the charges state. Phone records also show Trevino and Faamoe were in contact before and after the shooting.
In interviews with police, Faamoe said he was aware of the homicide but denied being involved, stating he was never in Salt Lake City during January 2022. Faamoe was shown a picture of the vehicle and admitted it looked like his car, the charges allege.
Faamoe was arrested and taken into custody on April 8 for investigation in the shooting.
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