DENVER — Two people – a 19-year-old man and a 17-year-old boy – are each charged with first-degree murder in connection with a fatal shooting outside the aquarium in Denver on Feb. 14, the Denver District Attorney's Office said on Wednesday.
Dacien Salazar, 19, was standing outside the aquarium at 700 Water St. when he was killed. On Wednesday, Denver prosecutors said that Antonio Vasquez, 19, and Jason Trujillo Jr., 17, were both charged in the shooting. Their bonds were set at $1 million, cash only.
According to an arrest affidavit from Denver Police, multiple people witnessed the shooting, which happened shortly after 3 p.m. Feb. 14. They reported seeing shots fired from a black sedan, possibly a Chevy with temporary tags. Witnesses said at least two people were in the car: a driver and a second person who fired a gun from the back seat.
Two people who were at the aquarium with the victim said they had driven from Pueblo to visit. When they left and were headed to the parking lot, a 4-door black sedan pulled up, the affidavit says. One of them reported that the windows were down and they saw a person in the vehicle wearing a black mask that covered their mouth and forehead.
Seconds later, they heard gunshots and ran for cover. The only person hit by gunfire was Salazar. One of Salazar's friends mentioned that Salazar "had a lot of people that were after him," the affidavit says.
Based on security video from the area, investigators determined the vehicle involved was a 2014 or 2015 Chevy Malibu. Detectives pulled DMV records for Chevy Malibus and found one with a temporary tag in Pueblo, which was connected to Vasquez.
Investigators also pulled phone records for all cellphones with the 719 area code that were near the homicide scene around the time it happened. There was only one "number of interest."
It pinged in the area for about 10 minutes – the same 10 minutes that the suspect's vehicle was seen on security video. The number came back to Vasquez. The phone also pinged at a nearby hotel where detectives pulled security video that showed two young men exiting shortly before the shooting, the affidavit says.
On March 29, detectives received an anonymous tip that Jason Trujillo Jr. had killed Salazar. Detectives sent photos from the hotel security footage to a Pueblo detective who identified Trujillo as one of the men, based on prior interactions.
Detectives interviewed another person who knew Salazar, and she reported that she had seen threats to Salazar on Facebook, according to the affidavit.
Denver investigators traveled to Pueblo to speak with detectives there about this homicide and incidents in Pueblo. Through the investigation, they determined that a shell casing from a shooting in Pueblo matched one found at the Denver homicide, meaning the same weapon was used in both cases.
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