DENVER — A man charged with murder for the shooting death of a father of two at a Denver park had repeatedly violated probation conditions in the months before the killing related to a prior conviction in El Paso County.
Court records show Alejandro Blanco "continued violations of the law" despite being on probation for a motor vehicle theft case from 2020 in which he avoided prison time. Those violations include an arrest in Adams County and one in Denver in December 2021 for a vehicular eluding charge.
"Who couldn't see this coming?" Denver Police (DPD) Chief Paul Pazen said during an interview with our partners at KRDO. "You see this record, how do you not know that this person is creating great harm in our community and yet we continue to give low bonds, there is no consequence for criminal behavior."
The violations prompted Blanco's probation officer to request that his probation be revoked and that he be sentenced to time in the Department of Corrections. That, however, did not happen and Blanco is now charged with killing 41-year-old Sergio Ordonez-Valencia in Denver in July of this year.
"My assessment is the murder that happened in our city never should have occurred," Pazen said. "This is another example of a repeat violent offender that should have been in custody and not creating harm in our community or harm anywhere in the state of Colorado."
Just after 11 p.m. on July 20, Ordonez-Valencia was shot at Elyria Park near the intersection of East 48th Avenue and North High Street, according to DPD. That's located just northeast of the intersection of Brighton Boulevard and Interstate 70.
According to an arrest affidavit, Ordonez-Valencia was shot as he sat at a table at the park with three friends. Ordonez-Valencia was struck in the neck and pronounced dead the next day, DPD said. He lived near the park and regularly gathered there with friends, according to DPD.
Blanco, 32, was arrested at an Adams County hotel and faces charges of first-degree murder, DPD said. He also faces three counts of attempted first-degree murder – extreme indifference.
Blanco fired two shots from a white truck at Ordonez-Valencia as he sat at a table with three others at the park, the affidavit says. The others were not injured, but Blanco faces attempted murder charges for shooting at them, DPD said.
The witnesses reported that a man in a truck pulled up to the men as they sat at the table and said something they did not understand, the affidavit says. The man turned onto High Street, stopped, backed up toward them, and said something again, the witnesses said. After that, two gunshots were heard.
One of the men reported that the suspect said, "I'm going to kill all of you," just before the shots were fired, the affidavit says.
Following his Denver arrest, Blanco was asked about a shooting on July 23 during which the driver of a white pickup fired into the driver's door of a semi-truck on I-70 near Peoria Street as part of a road rage incident.
According to the affidavit, investigators are "confident" that the same white truck was involved in the fatal shooting and the road rage incident. The semi-truck driver, however, did not see who was in that white truck or who fired the shot, DPD said.
El Paso County arrest
Court records show Blanco was arrested in April 2020 in El Paso County for aggravated motor vehicle theft. He pleaded guilty to one count of motor vehicle theft and one count of vehicular eluding in the case. Other charges including reckless driving and drug possession were dismissed as part of the plea.
Blanco was initially sentenced to 30 months in community corrections in September 2021 but that was later revoked and a sentence of 18 months probation was granted, court records show.
Almost immediately Blanco failed to comply with his probation.
February complaint
In February of this year, Blanco's probation officer indicated that he violated the conditions of his probation by failing to show up for two checkins in December 2021. Letters were then sent to his address on file instructing him to attend in January and February, but he failed to show up on either date, records show.
Blanco was also required to notify his probation officer of any changes to his address, employment, or phone number but when the officer attempted to call him two different times in February she got an error message saying "this number cannot receive calls at this time."
April complaint
The probation officer filed another complaint alleging that Blanco failed to comply with conditions due to a new arrest in Denver in December 2021. He was charged with vehicular eluding in that case, court records show.
In addition to that, she realleged that he failed to show up for checkins between December 2021 and February 2022. She also indicated she could not reach him by phone and that his whereabouts were unknown.
June Complaint
Blanco was arrested in Adams County in late May 2022, according to a June complaint from his probation.
In this complaint, she asked Blanco's probation be revoked due to his failure to check in and his "continued violations of the law."
"This is the perfect example that multiple violations, released on very low bonds, that supervision, in this case, was not adequate and this individual went on to commit murder," Pazen said.
"This person never should have been out on the streets of Denver, never should have been out on the streets of Colorado anywhere."
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