The Denver District Attorney's Office filed first-degree murder charges against two teens in connection to the fatal shooting that took place outside of the Downtown Denver Aquarium earlier this year.
Antonio Vasquez, 19, and Jason Trujillo Jr., 17, have both been charged with first-degree murder in connection to the shooting and killing of Dacien Salazar, 19, on Feb. 14, according to a news release from the district attorney's office.
Trujillo, Jr. will be tried as an adult, according to the release.
Police initially responded to reports of a drive-by shooting outside of the aquarium, at 700 Water St., around 3 p.m. on Feb. 14. Salazar was found with injuries and taken to a nearby hospital, where he died.
Numerous witnesses told police that the suspect vehicle was a black sedan, according to arrest records.
Salazar's friend later told investigators that they were in the aquarium for around an hour. As they left, a four-door, black sedan pulled up with both the passenger and back passenger windows down. A masked figure fired shots at the group, ultimately hitting Salazar.
Through security camera footage, investigators were able to pin down the vehicle as a black Chevy Malibu with temporary tags.
Another friend of Salazar's told detectives that the suspects had made threats to him on Facebook, according to arrest records.
Through social media, detectives found that the two suspects seemed to be tied to a gang that had fired shots at another group in Pueblo, with detectives finding the same exact cartridges there that they did outside of the aquarium.
After tracking Vasquez's phone, detectives were able to pinpoint the two suspects leaving a hotel prior to the shooting. One of the suspects could be seen in security camera footage carrying a black mask.
Surveillance footage outside of the REI at 1416 Platte St. then showed two people removing a temporary tag from the suspect vehicle prior to the shooting.
Denver police searched for information on the suspects for nearly two months, with Metro Denver Crime Stoppers raising an award for information from $2,000 to $3,000 in April.
An anonymous tipper told the department that Trujillo Jr. killed Salazar at the end of March.
A $1 million cash-only bond has been set for both suspects.
(1) comment
Throw the book at them and never let them out.
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person.
Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article.