LAKEWOOD, Colo. — On August 15, something unimaginable happened at Belmar Park in Lakewood ... twice. Two people were stabbed and killed on the same night.
One of the victims was 19-year-old Ivan Rodriguez.
"Just a good kid, a good boy," Carrie Paulson, a teacher at Jefferson Jr/Sr High School, said.
She remembers her former student, who graduated in 2018, well.
"The thing I remember the most is he was so thoughtful," Paulson said.
She says Rodriguez and an old teammate from Jefferson Jr/Sr High School got together on Aug. 15 to kick the ball around the park at night after work.
"Great friends, were in the soccer field and in class," Paulson said. "They were playing soccer."
Lakewood Police Department spokesperson John Romero that's when someone else asked to play.
"It appears that a third male approached them and began stabbing Mr. Rodriguez," Romero said.
Romero said Rodriguez was killed about 100 yards away from where 61-year-old Steve Sandvick was killed the same night.
"He was also pronounced dead from stabbing," Romero said.
Police have accused 19-year-old Vicente Orozco of killing Sandwick, but have not connected him to the murder of Rodriguez.
"At this point, we don't have enough evidence to say one way or the other if they are connected," Romero said. "But, we are certainly looking into that as a distinct possibility."
When news started to spread at Jefferson about the murder of Rodriguez, teachers and staff like Social Worker Robert Hawkins could not believe it.
"I was making sure it was the Ivan that I know," Hawkins said.
'The Ivan' that he knows stays away from trouble, Hawkins said.
"He had a great character, great morals. He wasn't in a gang or anything like that," Hawkins said. "And, he will be sorely missed."
For now, Rodriguez remains a murder unsolved.
"It is certainly suspicious that they both happened in the same area in relatively the same time frame, but that doesn't necessarily mean that they are connected," Romero said.
Rodriguez's funeral is set for Saturday. Friends and former teachers will hold a candlelight vigil for Rodriguez on Saturday at 9 p.m.
"They're not involved with drugs or gangs. They weren't involved with alcohol," Paulson said. "They were just playing soccer in a nice neighborhood, so it is pretty scary."
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