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SALT LAKE CITY — A Taylorsville man who shot and killed his childhood friend during a fight 11 years ago is now seeking parole.
Prosecutors said Donald Orlando Valdez and David Gonzales, 28, were members of rival gangs when they got into a fight on Aug. 31, 2013, outside a party at 970 S. 300 West.
During a hearing Tuesday before the Utah Board of Pardons and Parole, Valdez, now 42, said he and Gonzales were childhood friends and their two families have known each other even longer.
That night, however, Valdez's brother, Nicholas James Valdez, got into a fistfight with Gonzales. Donald Valdez says when he saw this, he jumped in and ended up fighting with Gonzales himself. At some point during the fight, Gonzales started reaching for a gun in his waistband, which Valdez says he wrested away and picked up.
"As I got up, I turned around and fired a shot," he told the board.
Gonzales was shot in the head and killed. Donald Valdez was charged with murder. In 2015 he pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of manslaughter, illegal discharge of a firearm and obstruction of justice, second-degree felonies. He was sentenced to three to 15 years in prison and two terms of one to 15 years in prison, and the three terms were ordered to be served consecutively.
Because of state statute, however, consecutive sentences are limited to a maximum of 30 years. If Valdez serves his full time, he will be released in 2043. On Tuesday, he went before the Utah Board of Pardons and Parole for the first time.
Valdez described being heavily involved in gangs at that time and how his "reckless behavior," including drug use, led to a lot of "poor choices."
"I had a pretty bad addiction to drugs and I was living a pretty reckless lifestyle," he said. "I realize in my reckless behavior and my reckless lifestyle … it had me on a very vicious life cycle."
Valdez says he didn't go to the party that night with the intention of hurting Gonzales and still doesn't understand how it got out of hand so quickly.
"I never intended for this situation to happen the way it did," he said.
Rita Miera, Gonzales' mother, told the board she felt "betrayed" by Valdez. She, too, recalled how he and her son grew up together and how Valdez said Gonzales was like a little brother to him. As she addressed the board, he referred to Valdez simply as "the inmate."
"I feel that he should do the full sentence," she said. "Ten years is not long enough."
When asked if he wanted to respond to Miera's comments, Valdez said, "I want to apologize and say I'm sorry. That night, it got out of hand and there's no excuse for it. I made a poor choice."
The board noted during the hearing that Valdez has had a clean record at the prison since 2018 and that his risk assessment score for reoffending had dropped substantially. Valdez attributes his change to the last time he was sent to maximum security at the prison and knew he "had to make some pretty serious choices for myself."
"I knew I couldn't be traveling down this road anymore," he said. "I decided to eliminate myself from a lot of past association with gangs.
"I understand his family may never be able to forgive me. But I am truly sorry for what I did," Valdez said.
The five-member board will vote on whether to grant parole or set a date for another hearing. A decision is expected to take a couple of weeks.
