Family photo-illustration via GoFundMe
Audio By Carbonatix
Metro-area law enforcement agencies are investigating four deaths that occurred from December 9 to 11, including a triple homicide in Aurora and a Denver crash that killed a cyclist and pushed the number of traffic fatalities in the jurisdiction one step closer to a record.
The Aurora Police Department alert about the Saturday, December 10, shooting at a home on the 1500 block of South Evanston Street, in the Willow Park neighborhood, reveals that officers were initially called to the scene on a welfare check. Upon their arrival at approximately 5:15 p.m. that day, they didn’t find anything suspicious and chose not to force entry. A little before 7 p.m., however, a family member gained access to the residence and discovered three unresponsive adults inside: two women and a man, who were pronounced dead at the scene.
The Arapahoe County coroner’s office has not officially identified the victims. However, family members say one of the individuals killed was Marisol Espindola, an eighteen-year-old who was on track to graduate from Frederick High School.
“Her name translates to the sea and the sun, and her happiness and sunshine brightened everyone’s day,” notes the introduction to a GoFundMe page launched on behalf of the Espindola family. “She always wanted to help people and animals and sought to bring joy to people’s lives. She attended school with her two cousins and always sought them out in the morning to hug them and start their days off with a smile.”
At about 5:30 a.m. on December 11, an APD update confirmed that Christopher Martinez, 21, had been arrested on suspicion of three first-degree-murder counts. Aurora Police Chief Art Acevedo, who was sworn in as temporary head of the department on December 7, said in a statement: “This senseless violence is inexplicable. Thanks to the efforts of our dedicated personnel, the suspect has been taken into custody and our community can breathe a collective sigh of relief. Our hearts go out to the family of the victims.”
The Denver Police Department used its Twitter account once over the weekend to inform the public about a shooting; a bulletin time-stamped at 9:35 p.m. on Saturday, December 10, cites the location as the 6200 block of East Colfax Avenue, in the Montclair neighborhood. One victim was transported to a nearby hospital with serious injuries.
Most of the other DPD tweets during this period related to major crashes, with the most severe occurring near the intersection of West 38th Avenue and Sheridan Boulevard, in the West Highland neighborhood. The collision involving a motorist and a cyclist was first reported at 8:56 p.m. on Friday, December 9. At 9:27 p.m., officers stated that the cyclist “has been pronounced deceased.”
The cyclist’s death was the 78th traffic fatality within the Denver city limits in 2022 so far; the modern annual record of 84 was set last year. But this wasn’t the only traffic death in the metro area over the weekend. On Saturday, December 10, a driver was killed in a two-car crash near South Buckley Road and East Mansfield Avenue in Aurora, and on Sunday, December 11, a pedestrian died after being struck on westbound Interstate 70 near the Wadsworth Boulevard exit in Arvada.
Individuals with information about these incidents can contact Metro Denver Crime Stoppers at 720-913-STOP (7867).
