DENVER—Prosecutors with the Juvenile Unit of the Denver District Attorney’s Office have direct filed a criminal case against Owen Darian Ruiz who was 16-years old at the time he allegedly murdered 16-year-old Juan Herrera-Lozano. On April 23, 2022, at 6:16 p.m. Denver Police officers responded to the Denver Skatepark at 2205 19th Street on a…

DENVER— In October 2021, a complaint was filed with the Denver DA’s Office alleging that Tilo David Lopez Jr. (age 55) and his company, Remodeling Specialists LLC committed elder fraud. An investigator with the office’s Economic Crimes Unit began looking into the allegations and a criminal case was opened in which Lopez was charged with…

DENVER—In 1997, Ray Ojeda (current age 51) kidnapped, sexually assaulted and attempted to murder a 15-year old girl for which he was tried and sentenced to 144-years in prison in 2015. Later, that conviction was reversed on appeal. Prosecutors with the Denver District Attorney’s Office Cold Case Unit reached a plea agreement with Ojeda in…

DENVER—Geoffrey Wescott James (current age 59) was sentenced on Monday by the Honorable Denver District Court Judge Jennifer Torrington to a 12-year prison sentence and to pay more than $5,000,000 in restitution after pleading guilty in September to violating Colorado’s Organized Crime Control Act (F2) and to theft (F3). James is to be remanded to…

DENVER— Denver District Attorney Beth McCann has reviewed the officer-involved shooting incident from July 15, 2022, at 329 East 51st Avenue in Denver and concluded that the shooting death of Mr. Chaz Theodore Gallegos (age 33) by a Denver Police Department officer was legally justified. No criminal charges will be filed against the one officer…

DENVER—In the early morning of November 12, 2021, Denver police officers responded to an apartment at 1222 S. Federal Boulevard where they found 25-year-old Javier Esparza lying on the floor of a bedroom suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. Esparza was transported to the hospital where he was pronounced dead. Officers also found Jerry Duong (current…

DENVER—Today, Denver District Court Judge Lisa C. Arnolds sentenced Michael Close to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the murder of Isabella Thallas and to 48 years for the attempted murder of Darian Simon. The sentences are to run consecutively. Close was also ordered to pay more than $37,000 in restitution. On…

DENVER—In the early morning of January 17, 2021, Imanol Del Valle (19-years-old) was found in the driver’s seat of a Honda Accord at the intersection of Ellsworth Avenue and Newton Street suffering from gunshot wounds to the back of his head, chest and right arm by Denver Police Department officers. On Tuesday, after deliberating for…

DENVER—Today, the Honorable Judge Jennifer B. Torrington sentenced Jessie James McGhee (age 55) to life in prison with no possibility of parole for the murder of 34-year-old Dustin Stefan. On May 3, 2021, Denver police officers responded to a 911 call from hotel employees and found Stefan suffering from a single gunshot wound to the…

DENVER—On January 23, 2020, Marnee Kelley-Mills was 17-years-old when her body was found in a trash can inside a duffel bag. She had been stabbed in the neck. On Friday, October 21, 2022, Darsean Kelley (current age 28) was sentenced to serve 27-years in the Department of Corrections for his half-sister’s murder.  On August 1,…