Copyright Salt Lake City Deseret News
Siolo Toala did his best to keep his composure while recounting the story of how his brother was killed nearly a decade ago by gun violence. Toala, who represents the group Day Won Utah, which advocates against gun violence, shared before those who gathered at the Gun Violence Prevention Center at Utah’s daffodil planting Tuesday evening that his brother Maluolefale was shot and killed during an altercation with another man at a West Valley City intersection in 2016. “He took a hot one to his chest, and we were just down the street waiting for him at a graduation party,” Toala recalled. “And we never were able to say goodbye.” He said the death of his brother took a toll on him and his family as they tried to navigate the loss. Toala said his cousin suggested attending a healing event to help ease the pain. “It was the first time that I was able to kind of process this grief and find healing,” he said. “And next thing you know, I’m invited to other spaces, and now I’m doing outreach.” Toala was among a handful of speakers, including local officials, who spoke among community members at the annual event. The organization planted daffodil bulbs outside the West Valley City Family Fitness Center at Centennial Park to honor the 450 Utahns who died as a result of gun violence in 2024. Before the bulbs were planted, attendees held lit candles and joined in prayer for a brief remembrance ceremony for the hundreds of lives lost. “Every single one of those 450 fatalities is a story of suffering, and they all leave behind parents, children, spouses, and friends, each with an unimaginable heartache they will carry with them forever,” said Sara Montoya, board chairwoman of the Gun Violence Prevention Center of Utah, in a statement. The organization says its mission is to prevent the tragedy of gun violence through education and by calling on Utah lawmakers to enact stricter regulations of firearms. Some people in attendance began to express visible emotion during the planting event, while recalling their own experiences of being impacted by a family member or loved one due to gun violence. Charli Bolick, of West Valley City, attended Tuesday’s daffodil planting in support of laws that enforce gun safety in Utah. “I feel like the entire thing, everything should just be more restricted — like where you keep your gun, who’s allowed to have a gun; everything needs to be more restricted,” Bolick told KSL.com. Though the event was set to honor Utahns killed by guns last year, organizers couldn’t ignore the recent string of deaths by firearms. In June, Afa Ah Loo, a fashion designer and singer, was killed at a No Kings protest in downtown Salt Lake City. Last month, Utah captured national attention after the assassination of conservative activist and Turning Point USA co-founder Charlie Kirk on the campus of Utah Valley University. But it’s not just high-profile cases that are adding to Utah’s firearm-related deaths. On Monday, a Clearfield teen was charged as an adult on accusations of shooting and killing his girlfriend inside an Ogden home early Sunday. In that event, a 16-year-old student at Ben Lomond High School was shot and killed on Oct. 7 in an Ogden neighborhood by another 16-year-old boy, police said. Last month, a ninth-grader at Canyon View Junior High died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, while on a field trip in Provo Canyon, according to police. Ashley Mendoza, board co-chairwoman of the Gun Violence Prevention Center of Utah, said the recent incidents highlight the need for tighter gun laws and responsible firearm ownership to prevent such tragedies. “All of this is local; all of it is very recent; we have to ask ourselves, ‘What is happening here?’” she said. “What has happened to Utah’s reputation as a place to raise a family? How are children and juveniles accessing firearms, and what can we as the adults in the room do to prevent these kinds of tragedies? These are questions for our lawmakers, and I urge every single person who’s hearing this message to demand answers.” Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill noted that Utah is seeing the age of those responsible for gun violence in the state trend much younger compared to recent years. He said the average age of offenders has shifted from between the ages of 20 to 29 to some as young as pre-teenagers “The largest use of gun violence that’s occurring ... will be (between) the ages of 10 and the ages of 19,” Gill said. “Let that sink in for a second — that is a tragedy.” He also stressed the importance of responsible gun ownership, including safely storing firearms at home and not leaving them unattended in cars. “That is why events like this are so critical and so important, because it touches human lives — we see its impact daily in the harm that it causes,” Gill said. According to the Gun Violence Prevention Center of Utah, gun violence rates have increased by more than 25% over the past decade. The organization believes it is up to local communities and families to help make their homes and neighborhoods safer, and to voice their concerns about the issue to lawmakers. “Utahns deserve a better response from our lawmakers to this public health crisis, and it is time to take steps to make our communities safer while respecting responsible gun ownership. The two are not mutually exclusive,” Montoya said.
