Three people who investigators say were connected with a failed plot that left three innocent victims shot or injured by flying glass were ordered Friday to stand trial on multiple charges.
Shot on Aug. 21 were sisters Celine Venzor, 7, and Kenia Venzor, 12. Injured by flying glass was a man identified as Juan Anzo.
All lived in the 100 block of Osceola Street, where the intended target, identified as Violet Garcia, lived. However, Garcia’s house was not hit by bullets from an SKS assault rifle authorities said was fired by Andy Rubio, 20.
Instead, the bullets hit two other homes.
Denver County Judge Alfred Harrell ordered Rubio to stand trial along with Terra Ramirez and Natalie McFarlane, both 19, following a lengthy preliminary hearing. They are accused of attempted murder, illegal discharge of a firearm and assault.
Defense attorneys Nick Avila, Peter Garin and David Juarez argued that the Venzor sisters and Anzo weren’t the intended targets, so the trio couldn’t be bound over for attempted murder.
But prosecutor David Lamb said that the trio were charged under a specific law that applies to the circumstances of the case: attempted murder with extreme indifference to the value of life.
Lamb said it doesn’t matter that Garcia’s house or Garcia herself weren’t hit. The law is designed to cover the shooting of innocent bystanders such as the three injured, he said.
According to Denver Detective Todd Bonfante, Ramirez was mad at Garcia because she refused to give Ramirez money she needed to post bond for her boyfriend, who was being held in Jefferson County Jail.
Bonfante said Ramirez decided to enlist the help of her friend, McFarlane, and McFarlane’s boyfriend, Rubio, to get back at Garcia.
The three met at Alameda Avenue and Federal Boulevard. From there, Ramirez drove to an area near Osceola Street, followed in another car by Rubio and McFarlane. Ramirez then gave Rubio a description of the home that Ramirez wanted shot up, he said.
Authorities said Rubio ran up the street firing the assault weapon, returned to one of the cars and fled the area.
According to Michelle Venzor, the mother of Celine and Kenia, a single bullet tore through the girls’ window, an entertainment center, a teddy bear and a stereo speaker before it hit the two girls.
The bullet hit Kenia first, slicing through her left arm and right breast and out the back of her right hand. Then it hit Celine in the side and exited through her lower back.
Staff writer Howard Pankratz can be reached at 303-820-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com.
