DENVER — One year later, fighting back tears at his son's gravesite, Fernando Duran said his heart is still broken, and he expects it always will be.
"Absolutely, makes you want to not want to celebrate nothing. I mean, he's never coming back. His death is devastating," Duran said.
On Dec. 3 of last year, Fernando's 18 year-old son, Fernando Rojas Duran, was murdered in Thornton after police say he connected with two young men online while trying to sell two designer t-shirts and a pair of jeans.
"Two youngsters got ahold of him through Facebook market and met up with him down the block from his grandma's, and they tried to rob him for the clothing and shot him in the neck and killed him," Duran said.
Tragically, there have been similar cases in metro Denver in recent years. In 2020, an Aurora couple trying to buy a car was murdered by a man they met online. And in 2021, an Aurora man selling a gaming console was shot to death in broad daylight in a McDonald's parking lot, also by a man he met online.
"I don't want the next parent to feel the pain that I feel," Duran said.
As the holiday season fast approaches, Fernando Duran said he's hoping his son's death serves as a cautionary tale, urging people who buy and sell things from people they meet online to be cautious.
"Never meet nobody at night. Go with somebody, meet in a public place, and just be careful in what you do, because you can end up leaving this earth," Duran said.
According to online court records, one of the men charged in the death of Duran's son pleaded guilty on Friday to second-degree murder and will be sentenced in February.
The second suspect has been charged with first-degree murder. His trial is set to begin in March.
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