A 21-year-old street gang member was arrested the day after his cousin was murdered in that has claimed at least 13 lives since November.
David Nunez-Hernandez has been charged with one count of being a convicted felon in possession of a hand gun in connection with the April 29 incident in which the gun was found during a traffic stop. A federal grand jury indicted him on May 5, according to a news release by the ATF and the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Nunez-Hernandez was arrested with a .357-caliber Smith and Wesson hand gun in the trunk of his car the Dominique Perez was fatally shot at a home on the intersection of East 35th Avenue and Williams Street, according to a source familiar with the investigation. Another person was wounded in the same shooting.
Perez’s homicide in the Cole neighborhood happened about two blocks from where residents had gathered hours before to rally against violence in the city and mourn the death of , killed three days earlier at a funeral of his uncle, Abdul Rahim Muhammad, 61, also killed in gang violence.
When he was pulled over, Nunez-Hernandez told police that he was on his way to visit a friend because his “homie,” who turned out to be Perez, had been shot.
“Combatting violent street crime requires the close cooperation of federal, state and local law enforcement,” U.S. Attorney John Walsh said in a statement. “This arrest is part of federal law enforcement’s ongoing effort to work with our Metro Denver partners to address gang-related gun violence.”
A police officer pulled Nunez-Hernandez over on a traffic stop because the car he was driving did not have a license plate, according to Jeffrey Dorschner, a spokesman for Walsh. He was also driving without a license, which had been revoked.
When the officer searched the car’s trunk he spotted a gun handle, Dorschner said.
Nunez-Hernandez had two Denver felony convictions for drug possession in 2009 and attempted escape from community corrections in 2011. He had also been convicted in Adams County District Court in 2009 for felony menacing with a real or simulated weapon.
Nunez-Hernandez faces up to 10 years in federal prison and up to a $250,000 fine.
Kirk Mitchell: 303-954-1206, denverpost.com/denverpost.com or twitter.com/kirkmitchell
