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On May 9, four people were shot in Montbello, with one of them subsequently dying.
It was a shocking incident, but like many crimes thought to be gang-related, it hasn’t gotten much media attention. And five days later, the victim who died in the case still hasn’t been identified by Denver authorities.
At this writing, the Denver Police Department has issued a single news release on the shootings, on May 10. According to that document, the DPD received a call about shots fired in the area of 55th Avenue and Wheeling Street at 10:03 p.m. the previous night. Officers arriving at the scene soon discovered three males suffering from non-life-threatening gunshot wounds. But they later learned a fourth person had also been shot. According to 9News, that individual was transported to an area hospital by a family member and died a short time later.
The identification of murder victims can be delayed in order to notify relatives. If 9News’ reporting is accurate, however, this person’s family already knows about his fate — yet neither the DPD nor the Denver coroner’s office has released a name thus far.
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Last month, Heidi Grove, co-founder and director of operations for The Youth Connection, told us about “a turf war going on in various parts of the city.” However, she expressed frustration about how little of the information about its fallout is being reported, and she thinks alleged gang affiliation is the reason. She cited as an example the case of De’Quan Walker-Smith, murdered in March. “At first when the media covered De’Quan’s killing, it was, ‘An eighteen-year-old young man is dead,'” she said. “But then they were like, ‘It’s gang-related. And in other news….’ And to me, he’s still an eighteen-year-old young man. He has a name. He has a family.”
Mannie Lee Legrand was arrested in connection with Walker-Smith’s death, but no media outlet has reported whether or not he’s been formally charged. In the meantime, no busts have been made in the Montbello shooting.
Look below to check out an interactive graphic of the area near the 55th and Wheeling scene (if you have problems seeing the image, click “View Larger Map”) and two 9News reports — one about the death of one victim, the second focusing upon the routine nature of violent crime in Montbello.
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More from our Mile High Murder archive: “De’Quan Walker-Smith ID’d as 29th and Franklin homicide victim: Gang-related? (43)“
