Authorities have released the name of a 16-year-old girl who was over the weekend.
Haley Vargaz, of Denver, was pronounced dead at Good Samaritan Medical Center, the Adams County Coroner’s Office said Thursday. Her manner of death has been ruled a homicide.
Vargaz was a junior at Thornton High School, according to Adams 12 Five Star Schools.
“We’ve had our district’s crisis response team supporting students and staff throughout the week, and we’ve also been connecting with her family to identify how best to support them,” said Joe Ferdani, a district spokesman.
Haley was killed early Saturday on the 13000 block of Monaco Way. Witnesses told The Denver Post they heard a volley of gunshots before seeing people running away from the area.
Thornton police have released few details in the case, citing an ongoing and active investigation.
Officer Matt Barnes, a department spokesman, said the party was attended by a mixture of juveniles and young adults. Investigators are working to identify those who were there.
“This has been a complicated case, due to many witnesses fleeing prior to police arrival,” Barnes said. “They are still attempting to identify several unknown groups who fled the area that night.”
Authorities have no indication thus far that Haley was being targeted.
“There would be no motive at this point until we identify who the shooter was,” Barnes said. “We have not discovered any information that she was an intentional target at this point. We are still in the infancy stage of this investigation.”
No arrests have been made.
Monaco Way incident now Homicide investigation. Suspect Hispanic male, 5'6", skinny, nostril ring, eye glasses, drk hair, tips-720-977-5069
— Thornton Police Dept (@ThorntonPolice)
Homicide Investigation update, other vehicles of interest – older large Blk SUV, & red 4 dr sedan, early to mid-90's model, tips720-977-5069
— Thornton Police Dept (@ThorntonPolice)
Investigators described a suspect in the case as a Hispanic male in his late teens or early 20s who is skinny and about 5 feet, 6 inches tall. Authorities say he has dark hair, a nostril ring and glasses.
Police are also searching for two vehicles of interest. One is described as an older model black sports utility vehicle, possible a Chevy Tahoe, GMC Yukon or Cadillac Escalade. The other is a red four-door sedan made in the early or mid 1990s, possibly a Honda or Toyota.
Anyone with information on the case is asked to call Thornton police at 720-977-5069.
