DENVER — A teen initially charged with first-degree murder in the killing of a teen while trying to steal vape pens was sentenced this week after he pleaded guilty earlier this year.
Brandon Sandoval was sentenced to seven years in the youthful offender system in connection with the Jan. 11, 2023 shooting that killed 16-year-old Aliyah Granados Cortez.
He was 17 at the time of the shooting and was initially charged with multiple counts including first-degree murder, robbery, and assault. In June he pleaded guilty to a single count of second-degree felony murder.
On Jan. 11, 2023, officers from the Denver Police Department (DPD) responded to a call of a shooting at 4670 N. Peoria St. When officers arrived on the scene, they found Aliyah seated in the passenger seat of a car, suffering from an apparent gunshot wound. She later died from her injuries.
Police said the shooting occurred in the 5400 block of North Atchison Way and the victim was transported to the hospital from Peoria Street.
During interviews with a witness, police learned that the victim and the female witness were driving to a house in Commerce City when one of them decided to sell THC vape pens to someone she had been communicating with over the app Snapchat, according to court documents.
The buyer said to meet them in the 5500 block of Atchison Way, the affidavit says. The victim and witness became lost while driving in the unfamiliar neighborhood, and two people approached their car from a park, according to police.
The witness told police that one of the approaching people came up to the car window and pointed a gun. The driver threw the THC vape pens out of the car and attempted to drive away, according to the affidavit. The car lost traction on the ice, and the person with the gun grabbed onto the car and reached inside through the window, the affidavit says.
The witness said the victim reached over and began hitting the suspect to get him to let go, court documents say. The witness told police she then heard a gunshot and the suspect let go.
Police used that Snapchat account to identify Sandoval as a suspect. The judge also sentenced him to 48 years in the Colorado Department of Corrections, which he would only serve if fails to comply with the terms of his youthful offender sentence.
