At sunset Saturday, about 100 people gathered at a Lakewood home and raised lit candles to honor and remember 21-year-old Christopher Pacheco, who was fatally shot early Tuesday while playing pool with friends in his family’s garage on West Mexico Avenue.
Many at the vigil were wearing T-shirts with the slain man’s picture. There was a moment of silence and readings from the Bible. Pacheco’s father called Christopher his “superhero.”
“I close my eyes and try to sleep, but all I see is my son,” Mel Pacheco said. “All I can ask is why, why him.”
A 16-year-old male was arrested Friday in connection with the shooting. Lakewood police said the suspect has gang ties, but they had no indication that the victim did. Denver police have said there was no evidence linking Pacheco’s murder to two other fatal shootings Monday night and Tuesday morning.
Pacheco was remembered Saturday night as an athlete who played with heart. His high school football jersey hung in front of the house.
“This is the biggest tragedy I’ve ever seen,” said family friend Tony Rodriguez, who now wears a tattoo of Pacheco on his arm. “It would have been our misfortune to have never known him.”
