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Man gets 50 years in fatal Holbrook courthouse shooting

Posted at 12:03 PM, Oct 22, 2018
and last updated 2018-10-22 15:03:15-04

A man who shot two Gallup women to death outside an eastern Arizona courthouse over a custody dispute will spend the next 50 years in prison.

The Navajo County Sheriff's Office says 49-year-old Salomon Diaz, of Snowflake, was sentenced late last week to two consecutive 25-year terms.

According to Navajo County Superior Court records, Diaz pleaded guilty in August to two counts of second-degree murder and one count of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Diaz initially faced first-degree murder charges.

Authorities say Diaz fatally shot 25-year-old Ashley Utley, the mother of his grandchildren, and her mother, 45-year-old Sherry Quintero-Davenport, in June 2016 outside the Navajo County Superior Court in Holbrook. Another woman was injured but survived.

The shooting happened after Utley was awarded temporary custody of her two children.