A man charged with shooting two girls last summer in Denver was accused Thursday by a prosecution witness of intimidation during the first day of his attempted-first-degree-murder trial.
The trial of Andreas “Andy” Rubio, the alleged shooter of sisters Celine Venzor, 7, and Kenia Venzor, 13, was momentarily interrupted when a key prosecution witness broke down and cried.
The witness, Terra Ramirez, 19, told the judge and jury that she was scared because Rubio had threatened her if she testified, calling her a “little snitch.”
Asked by prosecutor David Lamb what Rubio, 21, had told her on a sheriff’s bus, Ramirez replied: “The defendant made threats to me. I’m going to get … beat … and he’ll make sure of it.”
The Venzor sisters were the victims of a dispute between Ramirez and other women.
Ramirez agreed to testify against Rubio in exchange for prosecutors’ dropping numerous charges against her. She has pleaded guilty to first-degree assault.
Nick Avila, Rubio’s attorney, asserted in court that the counts against Rubio – including attempted murder with extreme indifference to life – were unfair.
Ramirez had called Rubio and his girlfriend, Natalie McFarlane, 20, the night of Aug. 21, after Ramirez got into a confrontation while cruising. Girls in another car had threatened them, Ramirez said, and she called Rubio and McFarlane for backup.
Bertha Armendariz, 16, who was riding with Ramirez, testified that Ramirez asked Rubio to shoot up the house of one of the girls in the other car.
They drove in two cars near the 100 block of Osceola Street near the intended victim’s home. At that point, Rubio got out of McFarlane’s car.
“He (Rubio) positioned himself across the street from several homes,” Lamb told the jury during opening statements. “He leveled his military assault rifle at several homes, and he pulled the trigger over and over and over.”
Holes were blasted in two homes adjacent to the targeted house – one bullet ripping into the bedroom where Kenia and Celine were sleeping. The other bullets went into another home and just missed Juan Anzo, 24, who was on the phone.
Anzo was slightly hurt by flying debris, Lamb said, but the two girls suffered more serious injuries. The bullet hit Kenia in her left arm, her right chest area and right hand. Then it hit Celine in the side, exiting through her lower back.
Staff writer Howard Pankratz can be reached at 303-820-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com.
