DENVER — A man and woman are each charged with more than two dozen felonies related to a deadly shooting last month at an apartment in the Denver Tech Center, according to the Denver District Attorney's Office.
Roxanne Rodriquez–Hernandez, 24, and Mark Howard, 34, were both arrested for the killing of 26-year-old Marquis Johnson that occurred inside an apartment in the 7500 block of Technology Way on Feb. 19, according to the Denver Police Department (DPD).
They're accused of entering an apartment and exchanging gunfire with an occupant of the apartment, according to DPD. Johnson was killed and another adult male victim suffered a non-life-threatening gunshot wound to the leg.
Numerous witnesses said they were inside Johnson's apartment for a pajama party when there was a knock at the door, affidavits for the suspects provided by DPD say.
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Johnson answered the door and a woman and man walked in both wearing dark clothing and armed with guns, according to the affidavits.
Another man inside the apartment retrieved his own weapon and began shooting at the armed intruders, the affidavits say.
During the shootout, several witnesses hid in a bedroom and when the shooting stopped they came out and found Johnson on the floor suffering from several gunshot wounds, according to the affidavits. Another person inside the apartment was shot in the leg, according to police.
The apartment resident who fired his weapon later told police he had fired five or six shots, and that he believed he had hit the male suspect, the affidavit supporting Rodriquez–Hernandez's arrest says.
Officers learned that Howard had driven himself to the emergency room at Porter Hospital. They interviewed him there, where he gave them a fake name, the affidavit says.
Howard told investigators that he and Rodriquez–Hernandez went to the area of Yale Street and Broadway to purchase drugs when they were confronted by three men who tried to rob them, the affidavit for Rodriquez–Hernandez's arrest says. Howard said he was shot during that confrontation, according to the document.
Rodriquez–Hernandez reported that they were inside their vehicle when another vehicle pulled up to them and fired numerous times at Howard, the affidavit says. However, police noted there were no bullet holes in the vehicle and that all of its windows were intact, the affidavit says.
Investigators were aware of the recent shooting on Technology Way and were unaware of any other recently reported shootings in the area, the affidavit says. Based on those facts, the obtained a search warrant for the vehicle Howard and Rodriquez–Hernandez were driving.
Inside they found ammunition, weapons, clothing and masks that matched the descriptions provided by witnesses. A gun recovered outside the apartment on Technology Way was also legally purchased by Rodriquez–Hernandez in Texas in August 2019, according to the affidavit.
Bullet cartridges found in Johnson's apartment also matched a weapon found inside of the suspects' vehicle, the affidavit says.
Officers returned to Porter Hospital to speak with Howard on Feb. 24 but learned that he left the hospital without checking out the night before.
Both suspects were later arrested.
It's unclear what the motive is, but investigators said they don't believe the shooting was random, as the suspects passed by multiple other apartments on their way up three flights of stairs to the victim's unit.
One witness also said she knew Johnson sold marijuana, according to the affidavits.
Rodriguez-Hernandez is charged with the following 24 felony counts:
- Two counts first-degree murder
- Six counts of conspiracy to commit murder in the first degree
- One count of first-degree burglary
- One count of assault in the second degree
- One count of conspiracy to commit first-degree burglary
- One count of conspiracy to commit second-degree burglary
- Six counts of menacing
Howard is charged with the following 25 felony counts:
- Two counts first-degree murder
- Six counts of conspiracy to commit murder in the first degree
- One count of first-degree burglary
- One count of assault in the second degree
- One count of conspiracy to commit first-degree burglary
- One count of conspiracy to commit second-degree burglary
- Six counts of menacing
- One count of possession of a weapon by a previous offender
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