On the day 16-year-old Natalie Cano-Partida was fatally shot near Fountain, one of five people charged in her murder confronted her on Facebook. 
“I thought you were going to be my girl,” Gustavo Marquez told Cano-Partida in private messages sent hours before her death. “Why’d you tell me that you love me?”
The competing theory that a love triangle — not a gang conspiracy — drove the execution-style murders of Coronado High School classmates Cano-Partida and 15-year-old Derek Greer was discussed in court Wednesday as defense attorneys moved to shift blame away from their clients.
The multiday hearing will determine if evidence is strong enough to warrant Diego “Casper” Chacon, Joseph “Chino” Rodriguez and Marco “Diablo” Garcia-Bravo standing trial on first-degree murder charges.
Two others charged with murder — Marquez and Alexandra Romero — waived their hearing, suggesting they are likely considering plea bargains.
Marquez, 19, and Romero, 22, cooperated with El Paso County sheriff’s investigators at the time of their arrests, making them targets for co-defendants’ attorneys, who suggested the pair concocted stories to minimize their roles.
Prosecutors pushed back against the idea of a “lovers’ spat” while focusing on indications that many players were involved. During testimony on Tuesday, Hubbell said members of the South Side Soldados plotted to kidnap Cano-Partida because they suspected she had provided information to gang rivals who then shot up two apartment buildings associated with the South Side gang. Greer was said to be killed because he was a witness.
The hearing continues at 9 a.m. Thursday and is expected to conclude later in the day.
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