Centennial – A man accused in a shooting death at an Aurora park on the Fourth of July two years ago was convicted Friday of being an accessory to murder.
The jury, however, did not find Robert Ray, 21, guilty of first-degree murder in the death of Gregory Vann at Lowry Park. In all, Ray was found guilty of five of seven charges, including attempted first-degree murder of two men at the park. Ray faces 32 to 108 years in prison. He’ll be sentenced in February.
Defense attorney Michael Root declined to comment, citing a gag order and a pending murder case against Ray.
“We think Mr. Ray is not guilty. That’s all we can say,” Root said after the verdicts.
Ray and two others also have been charged in the death of Javad Marshall-Fields, who was to testify against Ray and his friend, Sir Mario Owens, in the Lowry Park shooting. Marshall-Fields was gunned down along with his fiancée, Vivian Wolfe, on the eve of the trial.
Owens is accused of shooting Vann once in the stomach, killing him. His trial is scheduled for January.
The district attorney’s office charged Ray with murder, even though he did not fire the gun that was used to kill Vann. He was at the park with Owens, and when a tussle broke out, Owens and Ray started shooting, according to court documents.
Despite not getting a murder conviction, prosecutor John Hower said he was satisfied with the outcome.
“We are extremely pleased with it,” he said. “We had hoped the jury would convict him of first-degree murder, but the evidence was very clear that Mr. Ray did not shoot Greg Vann.”
Vann’s parents left the Arapahoe County Courthouse without talking to reporters. But Marshall-Field’s mother, Rhonda, said Friday’s verdicts are just the “tip of the iceberg” and that they will help bring justice in the deaths of her son and Wolfe.
“It shows that crime doesn’t pay,” she said. “Everyone has a right to life, and no one has the right to take a person’s life.”
The prosecution had a difficult time making the case that Ray should be found guilty of murder when he did not shoot Vann. Some of the people who were shot and other witnesses testified to different people shooting the same victims.
Marshall-Fields told police that night that Ray shot Vann, even though he was shot by Owens, according to authorities.
Staff writer Carlos Illescas can be reached at 303-954-1175 or cillescas@denverpost.com.
