A Mexican official says his country will extradite Raul Gomez-Garcia so the 20-year- old can face charges in the shooting death of Denver police Detective Donald “Donnie” Young.
“The Mexican government wants to see Mr. Gomez-Garcia face justice appropriately in the United States,” Geronimo Gutierrez, Mexico’s foreign secretary for North America, told 9News. “Bad guys should be behind bars.”
The extradition request filed by Denver prosecutors will now go through the Mexican courts. Gomez-Garcia can fight extradition, and if he loses, can appeal the decision to send him back.
If Gomez-Garcia files an appeal, the process could take more than a year. If he does not contest the decision, he could be back in Denver in a few months.
Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey said Friday that the foreign secretary’s announcement marks the beginning of an important phase.
“For us, that is very positive news,” Morrissey said. “Gomez- Garcia can fight extradition. … It could be shorter than we thought, but it could take more than a year.”
Morrissey said he was confident his office had prepared an appropriate extradition request but he could not comment on the judicial process in Mexico.
Gomez-Garcia is accused of ambushing Young and wounding Detective Jack Bishop on May 8. The officers were working off-duty security at a baptism party when the shooting occurred.
Gomez-Garcia left Denver and went to Los Angeles before running to his grandmother’s home in Culiacán, Mexico.
He was captured in June and is being held in a Mexican jail.
Denver prosecutors charged him with second-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder.
A first-degree murder charge was not pursued because Mexican authorities traditionally do not extradite prisoners if the death penalty or life without parole is a possibility.
Staff writer Felisa Cardona can be reached at 303-820-1219 or fcardona@denverpost.com.
