Just days after a grass fire destroyed and damaged homes, Tooele City was rocked again, this time by a murder.
Marcella Aragon, 66, was found murdered inside her Tooele home the morning of July 22. Her son, Jesus Aragon, was later arrested and charged with the murder.
Tooele City police were dispatched to Marcella Aragon’s home at 245 E. 600 North around 7:30 a.m. on a report of suspicious activity and a welfare check, according to Tooele City Cpl. Tanya Turnbow. A family member called dispatch and reported that Jesus Aragon was in the area and acting suspiciously.
According to a probable cause statement, Jesus Aragon was not a resident of his mother’s house.
Officers went to the front door of the house first but received no answer when they knocked, the statement said. They were able to make contact with Jesus Aragon through an open window on the southeast side of the home, where he was found asleep on a bed.
When officers asked Jesus Aragon to come out and speak with them, he did so willingly, Turnbow said. Once he exited the house, however, he threw himself on the ground in the front yard and began to scream and cry, the probable cause statement said.
Jesus resisted arrest and got into a scuffle with officers, Turnbow said. Once in custody and transported to the Tooele City Police Department, he was cooperative, even admitting to the murder of his mother.
When Tooele City police entered the home, they found Marcella Aragon deceased on the living room floor with obvious signs of assault and a struggle, according to the probable cause statement.
Marcella Aragon had filed a protective order against her son in April 2014, which was granted in June of the same year. The protective order was dismissed in July 2015 at her request.
Joe Santistevan, Marcella Aragon’s brother-in-law, issued a statement on the family’s behalf the day of the murder, thanking the police department and the community for their support.
“She was well liked,” Santistevan said. “She was a well-rounded person and it’s very, very sad this had to happen.”
Jesus Aragon was charged with first-degree felony murder and first-degree felony aggravated burglary in connection with the events of July 22.
During a court appearance in November, Jesus was assigned a new attorney and a new date was set for a competency review. He did not attend the hearing because he would not leave his cell at the Tooele County Detention Center.
Attorneys Edward Brass and Kim Cordova were hired by the Tooele County Attorney’s office to represent Aragon once his former public defender, Jamie Topham, stopped serving in that capacity. Brass appeared in Jesus’s stead and a competency review hearing was scheduled for February.
Brass and Cordova were hired because two of the county’s public defenders had conflicts with Jesus Aragon that prevented them from representing him. Also, the latest hire as a public defender was unprepared to handle the murder case, according to Deputy Tooele County Attorney Gary Searle.
Tooele County will have to pay attorney fees for Cordova and Brass, which will cost $10,000 to begin. The figure doesn’t include costs for consultations with expert witnesses such as mental health professionals, Searle said. Aragon spent about a year and a half in a state hospital but was deemed competent in February 2016 and released.
Jesus Aragon is scheduled to appear in court on Feb. 14 for a competency review at 9 a.m. before Judge Robert Adkins.