A suspect in the New Year’s fatal shooting of an 11-year-old girl and a 47-year-old woman has been formally charged with two counts of first-degree murder, officials say.
Pedro Cortez, 25, was charged Tuesday with first-degree murder, extreme indifference in the deaths of Angelica Martinez, 11, and Rebecca Yanez, 47, who were both killed by a single bullet. He was also charged with possession of a weapon by a previous offender and illegally firing a weapon, said Lynn Kimbrough, spokeswoman for the Denver district attorney’s office.
Martinez and Yanez were inside a home at 4708 W. 11th Ave. celebrating the new year when they were killed. Yanez was buried Tuesday; Angelica’s services are planned for Thursday.
Cortez remains in the Denver City Jail with no bond. He will be advised of the murder charges Thursday. Stories told to police by Cortez and one of his companions that night differ on the facts, however, according to court records.
Cortez told detectives that he fired a single bullet from a .44-magnum handgun at a streetlight and that two companions fired the rest of the bullets from the gun at the same street light. Michael Manzanares, 23, and Jessie Santos, 24, were arrested for investigation in the shooting and later released. In Santos’ arrest warrant affidavit, Cortez’s wife told police she saw her husband, Manzanares and Santos handling a handgun and that the three walked over to Lakewood and Dry Gulch Park. She said she later heard gunshots.
Experts have questioned whether a handgun could create such damage; police have not said which gun they believe was used to kill Angelica and Yanez.
Kirk Mitchell, The Denver Post
