Utah homicide suspect arrested in Palm Springs

A man who allegedly shot and killed a man during a home invasion in Utah was arrested Tuesday at a Palm Springs Motel 6. Shaun Fleming, 36, is accused of gunning down 30-year-old Toussaint L’Overture Tyler, Jr. on Dec. 10 in Taylorsville, Utah.

Fleming was arrested at about 9:44 a.m. at the Motel 6 on East Palm Canyon Drive, where he was staying with an unidentified woman. The woman’s mother called Palm Springs police just before 9 a.m., because she believed her daughter was in danger and staying at the motel with a man who was wanted for murder, according to Sgt. William Hutchinson.

The sergeant said officers surrounded the motel room, which Fleming refused to exit initially. He and the woman came out “several minutes” later and Fleming was arrested without incident. The woman’s association with Fleming was not disclosed, but Hutchinson said she was not injured or arrested.

Fleming and an unidentified man are accused of forcing themselves into the Utah victim’s apartment, with Fleming allegedly putting Tyler’s girlfriend into a chokehold and pointing a gun at her head, according to the Salt Lake Tribune, citing court documents. Fleming also allegedly threatened to shoot the victim’s 4-year-old child before shooting Tyler multiple times, the Tribune reported. A third suspect, Tonita Vianay Rico, was arrested two days after the shooting, according to Salt Lake County jail records.