Aurora Triple Homicide, Denver Cyclist Death Mark Tragic Weekend
Metropolitan law enforcement is investigating four deaths that occurred Dec. 9-11, including a triple homicide in Aurora and an accident in Denver that killed a cyclist, bringing the jurisdiction’s traffic death toll a step closer approached a record.
The Aurora Police Department’s alert about the Saturday, December 10 shooting at a home on the 1500 block of South Evanston Street in the Willow Park neighborhood reveals that officers were originally called to the scene for a social check. Upon arriving around 5:15 p.m. that day, they found nothing suspicious and decided not to force entry. However, just before 7 p.m., a family member broke into the home and found three unresponsive adults inside: two women and a man, who were pronounced dead at the scene.
The Arapahoe County Coroner’s Office has not officially identified the victims. However, family members say one of those killed was Marisol Espindola, an 18-year-old who was on her way to graduating from Frederick High School.
“Her name means sea and sun, and her happiness and sunshine brightened every day,” reads the introduction to a GoFundMe page started on behalf of the Espindola family. “She has always wanted to help people and animals and bring joy to people’s lives. She went to school with her two cousins and would always come up to them in the morning to give them a hug and start their days off with a smile.”
At around 5:30 a.m. on Dec. 11, an APD update confirmed that Christopher Martinez, 21, had been arrested on suspicion of three counts of first-degree murder. Art Acevedo, Aurora Police Chief, who was sworn in as interim head of the department on Dec. 7, said in a statement: “This senseless violence is inexplicable. Thanks to the efforts of our dedicated staff, the suspect has been taken into custody and our community can collectively breathe a sigh of relief. Our hearts go out to the families of the victims.”
The Denver Police Department used theirs Twitter Account once over the weekend to notify the public of a shooting; A bulletin timestamped at 9:35 pm Saturday, December 10 names the location as the 6200 block of East Colfax Avenue in the Montclair neighborhood. One victim was taken to a nearby hospital with serious injuries.
Most other DPD tweets during this period related to major accidents, with the most serious occurring near the intersection of West 38th Avenue and Sheridan Boulevard in the West Highland neighborhood. The collision between a motorist and a cyclist was first reported at 8:56 p.m. on Friday, December 9. At 9:27 p.m., officers announced that the cyclist had been “declared dead.”
The cyclist’s death was the 78th fatality within Denver city limits so far in 2022; the modern annual record of 84 was set last year. But this was not the only traffic fatality in the metropolitan area at the weekend. On Saturday, December 10, a driver was killed in a two-car crash near South Buckley Road and East Mansfield Avenue in Aurora, and on Sunday, December 11, a pedestrian died after falling on the Westbound Interstate 70 near the Wadsworth Boulevard exit had been hit at Arvada.
Those with information regarding these incidents can contact Metro Denver Crime Stoppers at 720-913-STOP (7867).
