EDGEWATER, Colo. — An arrest affidavit released Wednesday describes an altercation leading up to a fatal shooting at a Tesla charging station in Edgewater in May.
Jeremy Smith, 39, was arrested Tuesday in connection with the shooting of Adam Fresquez, 33. Smith is being held on charges of second-degree murder and manslaughter. His bond was set at $300,000.
“Today was a victory for the family and the Edgewater community,” said Alexander Landau with the Denver Justice Project. “This fight is not over. This is the beginning of a continuous battle for justice. In relation to the family, they finally get an opportunity to mourn in peace, something that has been deprived for the past seven months.”
Fresquez's mother, Lena Fresquez-Mendez, said she's thankful that the district attorney's office looked into the case and filed charges against Smith. Fresquez-Mendez said she's sickened with the way Edgewater Police handled the situation.
“They wanted me to believe that my son was the aggressor,” Fresquez-Mendez said. “I had to find out that my son was shot in the back by an autopsy. They didn’t even have the decency to call me.”
Smith's mother, Gail Sudduth, spoke on her son's behalf at Wednesday's hearing.
“I don’t know why they charged him,” Sudduth told 9NEWS. “His life was threatened, and he did what he had to do. I love my son. He’s a good kid.”
The shooting happened around 9:30 a.m. May 3 near the Tesla supercharger station at the Edgewater Public Market on 20th Avenue.
Affidavit released
According to an arrest affidavit released Wednesday, the suspect described an incident of road rage, and witnesses described seeing and hearing an altercation leading up to the shooting.
Police said Smith left the scene and went to his apartment after the shooting. That's where, according to the affidavit, he called 911. Smith told dispatch "the guy was like road rage going on like going to the charging station," the affidavit says. Smith told dispatch that when he parked at the charging station, the man got out of his car and "he pulled his gun out on me." Smith told the call taker he maced the man in the face and then shot him, according to the affidavit.
Smith told dispatch the man "was brake checking me and stuff," and said that when the two stopped at the charging station, "he got out and he like pulled a gun on me and like stuck it in my face," the affidavit says. The affidavit says Smith also reported the man "was like, hey let's fight" before Smith maced him. Smith told dispatch the man "went for his gun" before Smith shot him, according to the affidavit.
Police went to the apartment and took Smith into custody without incident, according to the affidavit. He was released later that evening.
That evening, police talked with Smith's mom, according to the affidavit. She told police that around 9:49 a.m., Smith had texted her, "I had to shoot someone in self-defense." The next day, police asked her what Smith had told her about the shooting.
The mom told police that Smith told her he was driving on West Colfax Avenue when he passed the "gentleman" and then the "gentleman" passed him. The mom described how Smith and the "gentleman" were "bickering" back and forth and "flipping each other off" as well as "brake checking," according to the affidavit. The mom said Smith told her the "guy" pulled a gun out on him and he tried to de-escalate the situation, the affidavit says. Smith also told his mom that he "maced the guy" and ultimately shot him, the affidavit says.
There were multiple Teslas parked at the charging station when Fresquez and Smith arrived, according to the affidavit. Several weeks after the shooting, police interviewed a man who was sitting in one of the cars at the time of the shooting. That witness told police he had been on his phone, with the car windows up, and had not been paying attention to the car next to him. He told police he "thought there was some type of altercation." The man told police he saw the person in the red Tesla (Smith's vehicle) pull a gun, and then heard two gunshots, according to the affidavit.
The witness told police "the 'other guy' (Fresquez) seemed to have a gun also," according to the affidavit. The man told police Fresquez had not pulled the gun out but may have "shown" it to Smith, according to the affidavit.
In September, police spoke with a man who had been sitting on a patio outside a building near the charging station. That witness told police he "heard a loud argument and thought there was some sort of domestic situation," the affidavit says. He told police he saw someone standing outside a red car screaming "Get the f--- out of the car." The person was slapping the windows of the car and kept saying "Get the f--- out of your car," the affidavit says. The witness told police he heard two voices, but the person standing outside the car was the main person screaming. He told police that he felt the man "was antagonizing the other man to fight."
The witness did not see the person inside the car get out. The witness then heard gunshots and went back inside the building to call 911, the affidavit says.
An autopsy found Fresquez was shot twice in the back. A toxicology report found he had cocaine and fentanyl in his system.
First responders found a gun inside Fresquez's clothing, "near his groin," according to the arrest affidavit. Police also found a gun in the red Tesla Smith was driving. They found another gun wrapped in a sweatshirt in Fresquez's Tesla, according to the affidavit. Police also found cocaine and fentanyl in a pocket of the pants Fresquez was wearing at the time of the shooting, the affidavit says.
Police pulled video from a camera on one of the other Teslas that was parked at the charging station, the affidavit says. That video showed Fresquez and Smith arriving at the scene and showed Fresquez walking toward Smith's Tesla before the shooting, according to the affidavit.
Smith's next court appearance is set for Dec. 19.
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