Arapahoe County – Gregory Vann died after being shot at a July Fourth celebration last year, and on Monday, the man charged with his death finally appeared in court.
Robert Ray, 20, faces charges of first-degree murder, according to John Hower, chief deputy district attorney, because of information received while investigating the June 20 murders of Javad Marshall-Fields and his fiancee, Vivian Wolfe, both 22. They were murdered one week before Marshall- Fields was scheduled to testify against Ray, who at the time was charged only as an accessory to Vann’s murder.
No one has been charged with killing Marshall-Fields and Wolfe, although a man has been charged with witness intimidation for allegedly threatening Marshall-Fields in a bar days before he died.
Since June, some witnesses in the Vann murder case have been relocated under the Witness Protection Program. Others are reluctant to cooperate, Hower said.
Testifying Monday under extremely heavy security in Arapahoe County District Court, Aurora police detective Tom Wilson said Vann was shot twice with a .38-caliber handgun; Elvin Bell, Vann’s brother, was shot once with a 9mm handgun; and Marshall-Fields was shot twice with an unknown weapon.
Various police detectives gave testimony that was sometimes contradictory. Police said numerous witnesses identified Ray as the driver of the getaway car. Some said Ray shot Vann, while others said a larger, darker man with braids shot Vann, then got into Ray’s car. The man with braids has not been identified by police.
Bell told police it was that man who shot Vann. Bell told police he chased the man to the gold Suburban getaway car, only to be shot by him. But Wilson said Vann and Bell were shot with different-caliber handguns. Neither gun was recovered.
The Suburban, which police never found, was registered to Ray’s mother, Rose Asante, who was in the courtroom.
In court, Hower played a home movie of the July Fourth party, which he said showed Ray dressed in a Philadelphia 76ers shirt witnesses had described.
Defense attorney Michael Zwiebel objected.
“I haven’t even heard of this, much less been given a copy of it,” he told Judge Michael Spear, who overruled his objection.
Zwiebel and attorney Sean McDermott told the judge they weren’t prepared to go forward because Hower hadn’t shared much of the evidence as he is required to, such as witnesses’ names and addresses.
Hower countered it was difficult investigating the most recent murders while trying to release evidence in the 2004 case to defense attorneys.
Ray’s preliminary hearing was continued until Oct. 17. The case against Ray’s wife, Latoya Sailor Ray, charged with accessory to murder in the Vann case, was continued until Oct. 18.
Staff writer Mike McPhee can be reached at 303-820-1409 or mmcphee@denverpost.com.
