The 21-year-old co-worker of slain Burger King employee Celia Meza has been arrested in connection with her slaying on Sunday, Arvada police said today.
Anthony Cole of Denver has been arrested on suspicion of first-degree murder and robbery and is being held without bond at the Jefferson County Jail, said Susan Medina, spokesperson for the Arvada Police Department.
“Police cannot comment on the role Cole may have played in the crime because of the ongoing nature of the investigation and due to the fact that official documents related to the case have been sealed by a Jefferson County judge,” Medina said.
Earlier today, two other suspects in the slaying of Meza waived extradition in Georgia and will be promptly returned to Colorado, Georgia authorities said this afternoon.
About 12:20 a.m. Tuesday, members of the Savannah-Chatham Police Department SWAT team arrested a 17-year-old juvenile and 21-year-old Anthony John Lowe as they arrived in Savannah, Ga. by bus.
The pair offered no resistance as the SWAT members, in civilian dress, surrounded them as they got off the bus at the Greyhound Bus Station on Oglethorpe Avenue in Savannah.
The pair appeared today before Judge Perry Brannen, the chief judge of the Chatham County Superior Court.
Brannen advised them of their rights and the potential charges they may face in Colorado, according to Sgt. Tommy Tillman of the Chatham County Sheriff’s Department.
Tillman said that the pair were arrested in Georgia on the basis of an arrest warrant signed by Jefferson County Judge Charles Hoppin. Hoppin said that based on evidence presented to him in an arrest warrant affidavit there is probable cause to believe the men committed first-degree murder, second-degree assault, aggravated robbery, first-degree burglary, second-degree kidnapping and theft.
Meza was killed about 3 a.m. Sunday when multiple suspects entered the Burger King at 64th Avenue and Ward Road in Arvada, opened fire and robbed it.
Carlos Rodriguez, who was married to Meza, rushed to the Burger King Sunday after not hearing from Meza for hours. He described his wife, who is from Mexico, as a “very nice person” who had volunteered to work the 11 p.m.-to-7 a.m. shift late Saturday and early Sunday.
She normally worked during the week and worked the weekend shift after a supervisor asked her if she was available that night, he said.
Staff writer Howard Pankratz can be reached at 303-954-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com.
