By Sheena McFarland
The Salt Lake Tribune
SALT LAKE CITY — Tyson Yellowbear said he didn’t even realize he had fatally shot Danny Tapuaialupe on the night of March 28, 2006.
Yellowbear on Tuesday claimed to members of the state’s Board of Pardons and Parole the accidental shooting came after he brought a half-ounce of methamphetamine to sell to the woman who rented an apartment at 3522 S. 500 East in Salt Lake City.
He was told to walk into a back bedroom to complete the transaction when he says Tapuaialupe tried to rob him. When Yellowbear pulled out his 9 mm handgun, he told the board, it discharged.
Tapuaialupe left the room, eventually leaving the house and dying from the single bullet that severed his aorta.
Yellowbear also told the Board he wasn’t the one who fatally shot another man, Pesio Vaeluaga, in the back of the head that night. Vaeluaga survived the shooting, but has suffered permanent damage to his vision, balance and memory.
Yellowbear said he pleaded to criminal homicide and aggravated assault in connection with the shootings, thinking it would “work in his favor.”
Board member Robert Yeates said the trial judge had determined that Yellowbear was indeed responsible for the shootings, and that Yellowbear’s version of events conflicted with other witnesses’ statements, though those varied as well.
Yellowbear said he joined the Qvo gang at age 13, started drinking alcohol at 15, smoking marijuana at 16 and doing meth at age 19. He began selling the product, and a few years later shot Tapuaialupe to death.
During his time in jail, Yellowbear severely beat a fellow inmate and has had other disciplinary actions against him. The 26-year-old also has been housed in a higher-security section of the prison that has prevented him from entering any programs that address substance abuse and criminal thinking.
Tapuaialupe’s former fiancée, Davina Roan, made a statement during the hearing, saying she has forgiven Yellowbear, but thinks he needs to spend more time in prison in order to rehabilitate.
“I feel sorry for your life, that you are missing out on your family, but we’re missing our Danny and he doesn’t have the opportunity to have a family,” she said. “I hope you can be a father to your children and a husband to your wife, that you can make up for what has been lost.”
Yellowbear said he has spent his time in prison reflecting on his actions.
“I’m sorry for taking him away from you guys, I have remorse for what I’ve done,” Yellowbear said. “I know I need to spend more time in prison to rehabilitate, to live a better life for my two children.”
Yellowbear’s sons, ages 5 and 6, attended the hearing with their mother — one of them showing his father a new toy he had received.
“I need to be a positive influence for my sons. I came from a broken family, my father was never there for me, and now my sons are going through what I went through,” he said. “I don’t want them to go through that.”
The board will issue their decision at a later date. A simple majority determines whether a prisoner is paroled, released or continues a sentence.
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