Estimated read time: 5-6 minutes
SALT LAKE CITY — The man convicted of killing University of Utah football player Aaron Lowe in 2021 and critically injuring a woman was sentenced Monday to a minimum 18 years and up to life in the Utah State Prison.
But those sentences won’t even begin until Buk Mawut Buk, 25, is done serving the prison sentences he’s already serving.
Third District Judge Paul Parker ordered that Buk not only serve the sentences for his murder and attempted murder convictions consecutively, but also consecutive to the prison sentences he’s already serving.
"This is a cowardly act," Parker told Buk of the murder of Lowe. "It was a terrible act. Because of that, justice must be served."
On Sept. 26, 2021, Lowe was attending a house party at 2215 S. Broadmoor Street (2625 East) just hours after the University of Utah football team defeated Washington State at Rice-Eccles Stadium. The party was supposed to be for players only, but uninvited guests started showing up.
Lowe and Fuamoli Pomale attempted to leave, but Lowe’s car was blocked by another vehicle. An argument ensued between Lowe and the other men, who refused to move their car. At some point during the argument, Buk walked across the street, retrieved a gun from another man and shot Lowe and Pomale, who were standing on the sidewalk.
"Witnesses then observed Buk walk up to the victims and shoot them five or six more times while they were on the ground," court documents say. The woman later told police that Buk was trying to "finish them off."
In March, Buk pleaded guilty to murder and attempted murder, first-degree felonies. The murder conviction carries a sentence of 15 years to life and the attempted murder conviction a sentence of three years to life.
Before Buk was sentenced, Lowe’s parents addressed the court. Darwin Lowe recalled the phone call he received on Sept. 26, 2021.
"The news that we got at 2:30 in the morning completely changed the trajectory of our lives forever," he said. "Since that time, we all walk with a limp in our soul. …There are no words to describe the pain that we’ve all felt."
Lowe, who wore a T-shirt with the University of Utah logo on the front and his son’s name and No. 22 on the back, asked the judge for permission to address Buk directly. A very emotional Lowe then turned and faced his son’s killer.
"This is what I want you to know. The night we got the news of Aaron’s life being taken, even though we didn’t know you, we forgave you that very night," he said in tears. "We didn’t want to grieve with bitterness in our hearts. So we forgave you, and we do."
But Lowe added that it wasn’t his forgiveness that mattered.
"I hold no power over your soul," he said. "My hope and prayer for you is you will acknowledge all of your wrongdoings to he who lost his son too, so you can have the hope beyond where you are. May God help you sir and see you through."
Aaron Lowe’s mother, Donna Lowe-Stern, was also emotional as she addressed the court. But she tearfully said she wasn’t ready to forgive.
"I have no forgiveness in my heart right now. … I don’t forgive you. I pray to God that this man stays behind bars for his natural born life; he took my baby," she said, adding that she hopes one day she can forgive. "But I don’t have it now."
Lowe-Stern said Buk "put a hole in my heart" and her son didn’t do anything that night that would make someone pull a gun.
"He might have been a big dude, but he was not a violent dude."
Before being sentenced, Buk’s attorney noted that Buk had written a letter to Aaron Lowe’s family. Buk also briefly addressed the court and apologized to the Lowe family, his family and the state of Utah.
"I was lost and I didn’t know any better," he said.
But Parker said he was "troubled" when he read Buk’s pre-sentence report in which Buk seemed to rationalize or justify having a gun. The judge told Buk there is nothing that justifies what he did, and then handed down his sentence.
At the time of his arrest, police noted that Buk already had an "extensive" history of violence and was on probation for robbery at the time Lowe was killed. Prosecutors asked the judge to impose consecutive sentences while noting that Buk has already been given breaks and opportunities that were unsuccessful.
Last month, Buk’s probation on two robbery cases from 2020 was revoked and his original sentence of one to 15 years in prison was imposed for each case. Those sentences will be served consecutively with the sentences imposed on Monday.
Also in court Monday, just as sentencing was starting, a woman — believed to be a relative of Buk — was caught trying to record the hearing on her cellphone. Parker had her removed from the courtroom. But she began to yell and then appeared to turn to Aaron Lowe’s family and had words for them as she was walking out. At that point, Parker ordered a Salt Lake County sheriff’s deputy to place her under arrest for contempt of court and ordered her to serve 10 days in the Salt Lake County Jail.
But when the woman was taken to a holding cell outside the courtroom, she continued to scream so loud that the judge was forced to take a brief recess until she could either be calmed or placed in another holding area where she couldn’t disrupt the hearing.
"There are a lot of feelings here, and I understand that," Parker said after returning to the bench, while warning others in the audience, "If you do what this lady did before, you will be arrested."
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