A bitter feud between street gangs exploded into retaliatory drive-by shootings that left a grandfather dead after a relative of one gang leader committed what was considered an unpardonable act of disloyalty.
Eric Martinez, a member of a gang called the PDKs, considers anyone from a gang called the BCTs his enemy, according to arrest warrant affidavits. But he harbors special animosity for one of its leaders, Andrew Cordova, the records say.
So when Cynthia Ruiz, a member of Eric Martinez’s extended family, began dating Cordova and then became pregnant with his child, it was an act of betrayal worthy of his gang’s death penalty, according to the court documents.
Early on July 14, Martinez allegedly drove a black car up to Ruiz, and someone in the car fired shots at Ruiz, according to the records. She was not hit.
Cordova’s vengeance was swift and indiscriminate as he allegedly targeted Martinez’s Denver home, court records indicate.
Within 50 minutes of the first drive-by shooting, 60-year-old grandfather Blas Romero, Martinez’s stepfather, was fatally shot by a stray bullet aimed at “an old lady.”
“This is connected to a long-lasting feud between two rival gangs, and two parties in particular, Andrew Cordova and Eric Martinez,” according to the court records.
Homicide detectives investigated the sequence of events that led to Romero’s murder by interviewing gang and family members including Ruiz, who was five months pregnant at the time. In the past two weeks, detectives made a series of arrests:
Ruiz was arrested Thursday for investigation of attempt to influence a public servant for allegedly denying she knew anything about the murder, and other charges for allegedly telling her boyfriend where members of her family lived. Bail was set at $100,000.
Martinez was arrested Aug. 13 for investigation of criminal attempt to commit first-degree murder. He is being held at the Denver County Jail on $500,000 bail.
Cordova, 23, was arrested Thursday for allegedly ordering BCT members, including his cousin, to shoot up Romero’s home on the 1200 block of Kalamath Street, an arrest warrant affidavit says. He also allegedly fired a gun at a second house. He is being held without bail.
Cordova’s cousin, Michael Cordova, 19, was arrested Aug. 11 for investigation of first-degree murder for allegedly firing the bullet at Blas Romero’s house that killed him, the document says. He is also being held without bail.
Martinez, Ruiz’s distant cousin, had been threatening to “smoke her,” knowing that she was carrying the baby of his hated rival, the records say. He allegedly wrote a message on My Space warning people to stay away from her or they might be harmed too.
On July 14, Ruiz and her boyfriend’s younger brother were walking together on the 1400 block of Lipan Street when a man police say was Martinez drove a small black car next to them.
The window was lowered, she told police, and someone she didn’t recognize said, “What up PDK” and fired about five shots. None of the bullets hit them, and the car sped off.
Ruiz and the younger brother ran to his house, where Andrew Cordova was hanging out with several BCT gang members. They told them what had just happened. Her boyfriend and other gang members said they had to retaliate, she told investigators.
According to court records, Ruiz and Cordova exchanged 21 calls the morning of the shootings. A gang member told police she was telling him where to find the homes of PDK members.
A self-admitted member of BCT told police that Andrew Cordova, his younger brother and Michael Cordova woke him up that morning and told him about the shooting. The witness got a Glock handgun, and five gang members went in two cars to Romero’s house, where Martinez had lived.
Andrew Cordova got out of a car, walked over to a gold sport utility vehicle that his cousin Michael Cordova was in and said, “You guys are going to hit that house right there,” a BCT gang member, who was in the SUV, told police.
According to the BCT gang member, he drove Andrew Cordova to the home of another PDK member and Cordova fired gunshots at the home.
The other BCT gang members circled Blas Romero’s block.
Martinez had just dropped off his nephew at the Romero home. Laura Romero, Blas Romero’s wife, heard her grandson talking on a cellphone outside and went to talk to him, according to court records. Laura Romero could not be reached for comment.
Just then, a gold SUV slowed down in front of her house and she heard gunshots, she told police.
The BCT gang member said Michael Cordova fired three bullets at “an old lady on the porch.” He stopped firing only when the gun jammed, the witness told police.
Her husband, who had walked up behind her, exclaimed that he was shot, Laura Romero told police.
He was pronounced dead at Denver Health Medical Center.
Staff writer Kirk Mitchell can be reached at 303-954-1206 or kmitchell@denverpost.com.
