Salt Lake man charged with murder in Murray shooting; Two other people are charged with murder

MURRAY – A Salt Lake City man is facing criminal charges, accused of shooting another man twice, including once at “point-blank range.”

Pirawn Yohan Mula, 22, who goes by the nickname “Popeye,” was charged Tuesday in 3rd District Court with murder and discharging a firearm resulting in serious injury and first-degree felonies; plus obstruction of justice and restricted possession of a weapon, second-degree felonies.

Charges have also been filed against two other men who police say were involved.

Jackson Baka Issa, 24, of Taylorsville, was charged Tuesday with transfer or possession of a weapon by a restricted person, a second-degree felony. Anthony Marc Cook, 36, of Murray, was charged with witness tampering, a third-degree felony.

On Nov. 21, Murray police responded to a shooting at 4460 S. Fairbourne Ave. When they arrived, they found 26-year-old Panoum Jangjuol on the ground. He was later pronounced dead at a local hospital. According to the charges, two shell casings were recovered from the scene.

While investigators were on scene, a witness approached them and said Mula shot the victim. Cook, who was standing nearby, then “walked up to the unknown man and told him to shut up.” The unknown man and Cook argued before Cook … struck the unknown man in the face with his right hand and hit him “Once again yelled at him to keep his mouth shut. Cook stated that he would deal with anyone who assisted the police,” the charges state.

Another witness said that shortly after Mula arrived at the apartments, Mula and Jangiuol began arguing and Mula shot him “without any justification,” the lawsuit says. The two shots were fired about three seconds apart, and “the second round was clearly fired at close range into the back of (Jangjuol’s) head.”

During a search of Issa’s room, police seized “a small bag of loose 9mm bullets,” a handgun, a box of .40-caliber bullets and a medium-sized bag containing prescription pills for Mula, according to prosecutors. According to the charges, the gun Mula used to shoot Jangiuol had not been found as of Tuesday.

This is the second time Issa has been arrested and accused of being present at a shooting. In 2021, he was charged with obstruction of justice, a second-degree felony. According to police, he and another man entered a 7-Eleven, 4051 S. State, and shot the clerk six times after an argument. Surprisingly, the employee was not injured.