Salt Lake transient charged with homicide in death of homeless man

SALT LAKE CITY — Prosecutors have filed third-degree felony homicide charges against a homeless man suspected of killing another homeless man during an argument.

Police and medical personnel responded to 451 S. State Street on Saturday to a call of an injured person and upon arrival found the 50-year-old victim, later identified as Roy Jackson, lying on his back on the sidewalk, according to charges filed in the 3rd District Court Monday.

Witnesses told police the victim had been arguing with the defendant, 52-year-old Reuben "Sonny Bear" Cesspooch Jr., just outside the Salt Lake City-County building about 11 a.m. Charges state the defendant shoved Jackson "violently," causing him to fall to the ground and hit his head on the pavement.

The victim had severe injuries to the back of his head and State Medical Examiner's officials reported he died as a result of skull fractures and brain damage consistent with blunt force trauma, charges state.

Cesspooch allegedly fled after the fight but turned himself in to the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Fort Duchesne later that day. Officials said they didn't know why he went to Fort Duchesne — on the Uintah-Ouray Indian Reservation in eastern Utah — or how he got there.

— Lana Groves