A 25-year-old suspect in a New Year’s shooting that killed a young girl and one of her aunts told police he was aiming at a streetlight.
Court papers say Pedro Cortez told police Tuesday that he was aiming at the light at the corner of Wells Place at Winona Court with his 44-caliber revolver.
He said he was in a parking lot when he fired at the light.
Detectives at the crime scene noted that the home where Angelica Martinez, 11, and Rebecca “Becky” Yanez, 47, were killed was directly in the background.
Cortez was denied bail by a Denver judge this morning.
County Judge Melvin Okamoto made a preliminary finding that the “proof was evident” and the “presumption great” that Cortez committed a crime that killed the two about 12:25 a.m. Tuesday.
Under Colorado law, most people are bailable unless a judge makes a finding of “proof evident-presumption great” for capital offenses.
Cortez, wearing a white T-shirt and blue jeans, appeared calm as he made his first appearance before Okamoto.
He said nothing as his lawyer, Harvey Steinberg, challenged Okamoto’s finding and requested a hearing as quickly as possible, at which he will argue that Cortez should be released on bail.
Okamoto declined to set a hearing date.
Cortez was arrested Tuesday night for investigation of two counts of first-degree murder in the fatal shooting at about 12:25 a.m. Tuesday.
He is being held for investigation of two counts of first-degree murder, said Denver police spokesman Sonny Jackson.
Norma Kaholo, one of Angelica’s aunts, was in court for the brief hearing.
Kaholo said she expects all the facts surrounding the shooting to come out and downplayed that a “night of revelry” by Cortez led to an accidental shooting.
“There is no accident about it. Everything that goes up comes down,” she said of people firing guns into the air to celebrate the New Year.
“Someone knowingly shooting a gun is no accident,” Kaholo said.
She said that although the shooting and deaths of two loved ones has been extremely difficult, she harbors no ill will toward the Cortez family.
“I don’t know who he (Cortez) is. I know who his wife is. Everything will come out. There are no hard feelings,” Kaholo said.
Kaholo said she was grateful that police made an arrest.
“Angelica was a beautiful girl. Let her rest in peace,” Kaholo said through her tears.
A single bullet struck both Martinez and Yanez.
Cortez was convicted as an adult in 2000 of aggravated robbery and menacing, according to Colorado Bureau of Investigation records.
He served a four-year sentence in the Department of Corrections’ Youth Offender Services, according to CBI records.
Police said they believe a reveler fired a single bullet from a high-powered rifle from a distance of up to 300 yards across a gully and Lakewood Gulch Park into the house.
Yanez was shot in the head and was pronounced dead at the scene. Martinez was shot in the chest and transported to Denver Health Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead.
Cortez is being held at Denver City Jail.
Howard Pankratz: 303-954-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com
Kirk Mitchell: 303-954-1206 or kmitchell@denverpost.com
