At 1:30 a.m. on Mother’s Day, 21-year-old Luis Romero Jr. called his mother to send his love and promise her fettuccine alfredo later.
He would be home soon, Jean Vigil recalled her son telling her. Yet a little over an hour later, he was dead, shot while trying to break up a fight in the parking lot of Subway Pizza Tavern, 3795 Lipan St.
Monday, Denver police announced they have arrested the man they believe to be responsible, 23-year-old Jose Alvarado- Juarez.
Taken into custody Friday, Alvarado- Juarez is being held without bail under investigation of first- degree murder.
Police officials declined to discuss details of the case.
Romero’s shooting happened the same morning as the murder of Denver police Detective Donald “Donnie” Young.
News of Friday’s arrest helped Romero’s family overcome concerns that his case would be overshadowed by Young’s, his father said.
“Any parent was going to be frustrated,” Luis Romero Sr. said after a news conference Monday with Police Chief Gerry Whitman. “But the Police Department assured me that this was going to get as much attention. I am so grateful to them.
“He was a peacemaker,” Romero said of his son, whom he described as a personable, outgoing young man who worked with his father in his insurance business and was getting a Realtor’s license. “He was a laid-back kid who disliked violence, and at the end of the day, it cost him his life.”
The day after her son’s murder, Vigil said, a neighbor brought over flowers that had been delivered to Vigil’s home on Mother’s Day from Romero Jr. The card read “Mom.”
“I’ll never be the same person again,” she said through tears, “ever.”
Denver Post researcher Barbara Hudson contributed to this report.
Staff writer Amy Herdy can be reached at 303-820-1752.
