COMMERCE CITY, Colo. — A jury found Omar Nieves guilty of murder for shooting and killing a 24-year-old man in Commerce City last summer, the Adams County district attorney announced Monday.
Nieves, now 29, shot and killed Miguel Antonio Chavez-Eagle while he was trying to break up a fight, District Attorney Brian Mason said in a news release. A judge sentenced Nieves to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
On July 14, 2023, around 6 a.m., Commerce City Police responded to reports of shots fired at a home on the 11500 block of East 118th Avenue. When officers arrived, they found Chavez-Eagle, who had been shot. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
According to the arrest affidavit, Chavez-Eagle and Nieves had been at a nightclub with friends when a fight between two women broke out at an afterparty.
When Chavez-Eagle attempted to break up the fight, Mason said, Nieves fired a shot that struck the victim in the forehead. Nieves then fled the area.
Commerce City Police detectives identified and arrested Nieves six days later.
“This was a sad and tragic case where an innocent victim was gunned down for absolutely no reason,” Mason said the release. “It’s heartbreaking to see a young life cut short over nothing.”
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