With his killer still on the loose, more than 200 friends and family of Theodore “Ted” Padilla wept and shared stories in LoDo on Wednesday at the site where he was shot.
The 25-year-old and six others were shot early Sunday in a hail of bullets along 15th Street between Market and Blake streets.
People who loved Padilla lit candles and wore T-shirts with his picture on them. Flowers were placed at the base of a tree and roses were hung from branches, as police closed off two lanes to traffic.
“I think it just shows that he was very, very loved by a lot of people,” Padilla’s girlfriend, Marie Duran, said.
Meanwhile, police remained on the lookout for the prime suspect in the shooting, 25-year- old Anthony Chavez.
“We are not sure if he is in the metro area or if he has fled the state,” Denver police spokesman Sonny Jackson said. “He could be gone. He could double back. All his roots, everything, (are in) … Denver.”
Jackson said police now believe the gunman was on foot, rather than in a truck, when he fired the shots.
While some at the vigil expressed frustration that Chavez had not yet been caught, others were confident justice will prevail.
“This was our family, my brother, taken from us,” said the victim’s brother, Joseph Padilla, 27.
People who knew him described Padilla as a quiet man, loyal to his family and friends, a good father and hard worker who lived with Duran. Padilla was a father to three young sons. The eldest, age 9, is trying to understand why his dad is gone, Joseph Padilla said.
Ted Padilla wasn’t much of a bar-goer, friends said. The night he was killed was an exception – he was at Hush nightclub with friends and his brother, celebrating a birthday.
“He was a good man, respectful always of people,” said Marie’s father, Tony Duran. “He was a good enough man to be my son-in-law someday.”
Some have speculated that Ted Padilla got into a confrontation with his killer over two gold necklaces he wore that night. One of the necklaces, a gold chain encrusted with 4-carat diamonds, was on loan to him that night from his brother.
“All he wanted was to wear it to look nice like everyone else who was out that night,” Joseph Padilla said. “I put it around his neck and told him I loved him.”
Manny Gonzales: 303-954-1537 or mgonzales@denverpost.com
