A New Year’s Eve reveler who allegedly killed a young girl and her aunt shot 15 times into the air, according to testimony reviewed by a Denver judge Thursday.
After the crime, Pedro Cortez allegedly cut up the gun and scattered the pieces.
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 Jan. 1 by a single bullet that penetrated the house at 4708 W. 11th Ave. where they were celebrating.
Previously, Troy Bisgard, Denver homicide detective, testified that Cortez went outside and fired his Smith & Wesson .44-caliber revolver 12 times at midnight and then went out 23 minutes later and fired three more shots. A shot from the second time was the fatal one, Bisgard said.
Cortez was shooting at a street light 80 yards away, Bisgard said. The home where the victims were killed was 280 yards from his location.
Bisgard said that Cortez told him 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.
Cortez already has been ordered to stand trial on two counts of extreme-indifference first-degree murder. His lawyers say the charge of child abuse resulting in death does not fit the crime.
