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KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Three people were arrested Tuesday in connection to a double fatal shooting.
- Kendra Mitchell and Tiffani Papach were arrested in the shooting that allegedly stemmed from a dispute over payment to a sex worker.
SALT LAKE CITY — Three people have been arrested in connection with a double homicide investigation at a downtown Salt Lake hotel that happened early Tuesday.
Just after 12:30 a.m. Tuesday, emergency dispatchers received a 911 call from the area near the Comfort Inn Downtown, 171 W. 500 South. The caller hung up without saying anything, but officers responded anyway to see what was happening.
Just as they arrived, another 911 call was received reporting that shots had been fired. Two men were found inside the hotel with gunshot wounds. Despite lifesaving efforts, both men were pronounced dead at the scene, according to police.
Their names have not yet been released.
Kendra Mitchell, 38, told police she was engaged in commercial sex work and had been contacted by the renter of the hotel room, Salt Lake police said in a statement. An argument occurred over payment details, and Mitchell contacted Tiffani Papach, 40, to send two men to the hotel as “security” or “protection” because of the payment dispute, police said.
Papach and the two men arrived and forced their way into the hotel room, according to the police statement. One of the men was armed with a handgun, police said.
The men allegedly assaulted the renter and demanded money from him before stealing his car keys, police said. During the confrontation, the two men were shot and killed.
“At this time, the shooter has not been arrested. That person’s name is not being released,” Salt Lake police said in a statement Tuesday night.
Papach and Mitchell were arrested Tuesday for investigation of aggravated burglary and aggravated robbery. Papach is also being investigated for obstruction of justice.
Kevin Le Ray Thrower, 56, was booked into the Salt Lake County Jail for investigation of obstruction of justice. During their search, police located Thrower walking with a woman, later identified as Mitchell.
Thrower told police that the woman they were looking for “had run off through an apartment building,” according to the affidavit. In reality, the woman was standing next to Thrower and gave a false name to police, the affidavit states.
When questioned, Thrower claimed “that the involved female told him nothing about the homicides” and that he knew her by another name.
When police were able to track down Mitchell a second time and take her to the Salt Lake City Police Department for questioning, she “told the detectives that she had told (Thrower) everything that had happened regarding the homicide” before officers found them walking together, the affidavit says. She claimed that Thrower “told her not to tell anyone about what happened that resulted in two people being killed.”
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