Denver Juries Return Guilty Verdicts in Three First-Degree Murder Cases in the Past Three Days

DENVER — Denver District Attorney John Walsh today announced that Denver juries returned guilty verdicts in three different murder cases this week.

In the first case, Joseph Lash was convicted of First-Degree Murder on Wednesday, October 8, 2025. On March 11, 2023, Lash shot and killed 18-year-old Rigoberto Esparza outside a house party in Montbello. Lash faces life in prison without the possibility of parole at sentencing on October 14.

Then, earlier today, Friday, October 10, 2025, Tanner Fielder was convicted of two counts of First-Degree Murder. In September of 2023, in two separate incidents, Fielder shot and killed 43-year-old Jeremy Hutcheson and 31-year-old Lluvia Robles-Banuelos along the South Platte River bike path.  Fielder faces life in prison without the possibility of parole when he is sentenced on December 15.

Finally, this afternoon, Aron Gamboa-Sidas was convicted of First-Degree Murder and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.  On July 8, 2023, Gamboa-Sidas murdered 82-year-old Frank Ortiz, who was walking in the early morning around his west Denver neighborhood offering to pray for people that he came across, as he did every day.

“These three guilty verdicts are just the latest examples of the outstanding work being done every day by the prosecutors, investigators, victim advocates and paralegals in the Denver District Attorney’s Office, as well as the dedicated detectives with the Denver Police Department.  That hard work led to the murder convictions of these three men, who are being held accountable for their actions.  Denver is a safer city with these men off the streets.  Our hearts go out the families of the victims in these cases, along with the hope that these verdicts bring a measure of justice in each case,” said DA Walsh.

The prosecution team in People v. Lash was led by Chief Trial Deputy District Attorney Ashley Morgan and Senior Deputy District Attorney Danielle Sexton of the Denver DA’s Office, and Detective John McGrail of the Denver Police Department.

The prosecution team in People v. Fielder was led by Chief Deputy District Attorney Thain Bell and Senior Deputy District Attorney Meredith D’Angelo of the Denver DA’s Office, and Detective Gavin Whitman of the Denver Police Department.

The prosecution team in People v. Gamboa-Sidas was led by Chief Deputy District Attorney Melissa Fox and Deputy District Attorney Brian Hall of the Denver DA’s Office, and Detective Daniel Tregembo of the Denver Police Department.

About the Denver DA’s Office:

The mission of the Denver DA’s Office is to protect the community, to seek equal justice for all, and to improve the quality and fairness of criminal justice on behalf of the people of Colorado.  We achieve that mission through excellence in our work investigating and prosecuting crime, supporting victims and their families, working with the community to prevent crime, and providing fair alternatives to incarceration in appropriate cases.

-30-