Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation FBI Crime News (b)
On February 24, 2025, the FBI Safe Streets Violent Crime Task Force, with assistance from the Utah County Major Crimes Task Force and the Orem Police Department, arrested 20-year-old Jose Antonio Cedeno-Ponce, wanted in connection with a homicide that occurred on January 10, 2025, in King County, Washington. Law enforcement encountered Cedeno-Ponce at a business in Utah County and took him into custody without incident.
“Task forces allow law enforcement to seamlessly work together with the shared goal of keeping our communities safe,” said Special Agent in Charge Mehtab Syed of the Salt Lake City FBI. “It’s important that the defendant face the serious charges brought against him.”
Cedeno-Ponce has been charged in the Superior Court of Washington for King County with Murder in the Second Degree. According to the court documents, Cedeno-Ponce drove to a location in Tukwila to engage in a fight with high schoolers and armed himself with a knife before anyone approached him. During the fight, he fatally struck the victim. Cedeno-Ponce subsequently left the state and abandoned his vehicle in Idaho.
Cedeno-Ponce is currently being held at the Utah County Jail where he will await extradition to Washington state. The public should be reminded that the above are merely allegations and that all persons are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
The FBI Safe Streets Task Force is made up of agents and law enforcement from Salt Lake City, West Valley City, and Springville Police Departments. The Task Force investigates violent crime and gang violence in the greater Salt Lake Metro area.