SALT LAKE CITY (Court TV) — A judge sentenced a Utah woman to serve a minimum of 17 years in prison after a jury convicted her of leading a group of teenagers to kill her much-younger boyfriend.
Ariana Aguilar, 46, was convicted on charges of murder, burglary, obstruction of justice and retaliation against a witness in the death of Jorge Llamas, 21, who was killed on Oct. 13, 2024.
Ariana Aguilar appears at sentencing on July 21, 2026. (Court TV)
Prosecutors said that Aguilar and Llamas had an argument earlier in the day, leading the victim to lock the defendant out of his home. Aguilar admitted to calling her daughter for a ride but maintained that was all she asked for. But when her daughter arrived, a second car with a group of teens followed shortly after.
Aguilar told the group about the dispute she’d had with Llamas, saying it started as a verbal argument before turning physical. “She basically told them, ‘We have to take care of someone,'” prosecutor Brett Keeler said at Tuesday’s sentencing hearing.
Aguilar’s attorney, Lance Bastian, saw things differently: “Her daughter took it upon herself to invite several, very drug-high teenagers that were with her,” he said on Tuesday. Bastian said that his client’s story about the physical altercation with her boyfriend “was apparently interpreted by the young men as some sort of call to action, regardless of the fact that that was not necessarily her intent.”
While Bastian conceded that his client had broken into the victim’s home along with the group, he said that Aguilar had no idea that anyone brought a gun. “They were already in the bedroom, and one of the young men pulled out a gun and pistol-whipped the decedent, and the testimony is that she actually yelled, ‘No!’ in that moment when that happened,” Bastian said. A second juvenile then pulled another gun and shot the victim.
All the teenagers fled the scene, but Aguilar stayed behind, putting pressure on the victim’s wounds. She stayed until police arrived — but tried to deceive them when she was interviewed. Bastian said that Aguilar lied about her cellphone’s location and about her daughter’s whereabouts solely to protect her child.
Llamas’ cousin, Miriam Diaz, spoke at Tuesday’s sentencing, urging the judge to send her to prison for more than the minimum. “She needs to pay mind to the time that Jorge has been buried under the earth,” she said through an interpreter. “Maybe one day she’ll leave prison, but Jorge will never come back to us.”
Judge Patricia Kuendig sentenced Aguilar to two life sentences for burglary and murder, to be served concurrently. Those sentences will be followed by two sentences of up to 15 years for obstruction of justice and five years for retaliation, all to be served consecutively to the first two sentences and to each other.
“One terrible night, under the influence of alcohol and with a number of other people similarly under the influence of alcohol and substances, she made some bad decisions, which ultimately resulted in some horrendous decisions that were made by other people and ultimately out of her control,” Bastian said. “And she has to live with that for the rest of her life.”
