A Salt Lake City woman who lied to police about a deadly shooting at her own birthday party will serve probation instead of jail time. Tommi Tiara Jude Gallegos, 26, pleaded guilty to obstructing justice after admitting she knowingly made a false statement to an investigating officer about the January 2024 shooting that killed 18-year-old Gabriel Isidore Vigil at a Salt Lake City Airbnb.
Gallegos admitted on Sept. 29 that she had lied to investigators, according to KSL News. She had falsely claimed the party was girls-only and that she did not know the victim. Gallegos had originally been charged with obstruction of justice as a second-degree felony, but that charge was reduced to a lesser offense as part of a plea deal, and a jury trial that had been scheduled to begin Oct. 6 never happened.
Third District Judge Stephen Nelson sentenced Gallegos to one year in jail for the class A misdemeanor, but the sentence was suspended in favor of 12 months of probation beginning Nov. 5. The reduced charge stems from a case built on a statutory requirement that a person act with intent to hinder, delay or prevent an investigation to be guilty of obstruction of justice, per Utah Code Title 76, Chapter 8, Section 306.
What Happened the Night of the Shooting
Salt Lake police responded to a shooting near 800 South and 300 East on Jan. 14, 2024, where they found Vigil on a sidewalk with a gunshot wound to his head. The shooting happened at a short-term rental, and the report notes that Vigil, Maricio Amar Reyes Valdez, Isidore Junior Barrera and a 16-year-old had been dropped off at the property for what was described as Gallegos' birthday party, a detail that surfaced through phone video reviewed in the case.
Investigators believe four men fired at least 18 rounds toward the Airbnb, and Vigil was hit twice by friendly fire during the gunfire. Witnesses told police that the four people who were dropped off had asked to be taken to two places to beat up people who had threatened someone, and that one person was pistol-whipped at a separate location before the group arrived at the Airbnb.
Co-Defendants Received Sharply Different Sentences
Valdez and Barrera were each charged in 3rd District Court in February 2024 with aggravated robbery, two counts of shooting someone causing serious injury, and 18 counts of discharge of a firearm. Both men had 19 felonies each dismissed as part of their plea deals, but their outcomes diverged sharply once they entered guilty pleas.
Valdez pleaded guilty in September 2025 to discharge of a firearm charges and was sentenced to five years to life in prison for the first-degree felony count, plus one to 15 years for a second-degree felony count, with a judge ordering the sentences to run concurrently. Barrera pleaded guilty to the same firearm charges in February 2025, but his prison terms were suspended in favor of three years of probation and completion of a rehabilitation program, the same report states.
Case Closes Nearly Three Years Later
With Gallegos's sentencing, the final charges tied to the fatal shooting have now been resolved, nearly three years after the incident first unfolded. The case had earlier drawn attention when police said Vigil himself was believed to be one of four gunmen in the shootout, struck by one of the other three, according to a separate KSL News report from February 2024.
Utah law also classifies making a false or inconsistent statement under Section 76-8-503 as a class B misdemeanor, per Utah Code Title 76, Chapter 8, Part 5.
