A New Year’s Eve reveler who allegedly killed a young girl and her aunt with a single bullet, fired a total of 15 shots into the air early New Year’s Day, testimony reviewed by a Denver judge on Thursday revealed.
The ammunition that Pedro Cortez allegedly fired, was Corbin .44 magnum bullets, used for hunting, according to the testimony.
After the crim, Cortez allegedly cut up the gun.
Denver District Judge Morris Hoffman ordered Cortez, 26, to stand trial for child abuse resulting in death in the slaying of Angelica Martinez, 11.
Martinez and her 47-year-old aunt, Rebecca “Becky” Yanez, of Fort Collins, were killed in the early hours of Jan. 1 by a single bullet that penetrated the home at 4708 W. 11th Ave. where they were celebrating the New Year.
Prior to his ruling Thursday, Hoffman reviewed the lengthy transcript of a previous hearing at which Denver homicide detective Troy Bisgard testified that on New Year’s Eve, Cortez went outside his apartment on two different occasions.
Cortez fired his Smith & Wesson .44 caliber revolver 12 times at midnight and then went out 23 minutes later and fired three more shots, according to Bisgard.
It was one of the three shots the second time, Bisgard said, that penetrated the home at 4708 W. 11th Ave, killing Martinez and Yanez.
Cortez, who said he had to reload the revolver after the first six shots, said he was aware there were many people outside celebrating the New Year when he fired the 12 shots at a street light directly outside his residence.
“It’s a very densely populated area, several multi-family apartment buildings, duplexes, quadplexes, lots of houses on each side of the street,” said Bisgard of the area where Cortez fired the first dozen rounds.
The second time, when he allegedly fired the fatal shot, Cortez was shooting at a different street light 80 yards away, said Bisgard. The home where the women were killed was 280 yards from the place the fatal bullet was fired, according to testimony.
Cortez told officers that he was aware that after he fired the first 12 shots people were upset and he thought someone might have called police.
Bisgard said that after Martinez and Yanez died, Cortez said he got rid of the weapon by cutting up the gun into pieces smaller than an inch and disposing of them around the city.
“He was driving his truck with his knees and while driving he was cutting the firearm into pieces with a set of tools that he had in his back seat,” Bisgard said.
Bisgard said that the group of friends Cortez was with that New Year’s Eve said that they did not shoot the gun – just Cortez.
Cortez has already been ordered to stand trial for two counts of first-degree murder extreme indifference and possession of a weapon by a previous offender. According to court records, Cortez was convicted of aggravated robbery in 2000.
Cortez’ lawyers have argued that there is absolutely no evidence that Cortez meant to shoot at the house or that he was angry at anyone in the house or neighborhood. They also claim that a charge of child abuse resulting in death does not fit the crime.
Howard Pankratz: 303-954-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com
