They were teens trying to connect with other kids for a week-end party on March 19, 2006 at a home on the 200 block of Stuart Street.
Joe Gomez and Ronnie Hernandez had invited girls over for a party at Hernandez’s house.
- Ronnie Hernandez, 19
When most of the girls left, one said she knew a guy who could bring more girls.
Instead a roomful of guys showed up with one girl, according to an article by Denver Post reporter David Olinger.
The unwanted visitors started boasting that they were Northsiders, or members of a street gang.
When Hernandez asked them to leave, most did, but the one or two who didn’t pulled out their guns.
“Next thing you know we heard guns shooting,” Gomez said. “I ran to the door. Ronnie was down already. I turned, tried to run, fell to the floor. I didn’t even know I got shot at the time.”
Some of Hernandez’s friends returned fire, according to police.
People who were outside joined the fray, firing bullets into the home.
Two people, Hernandez and Eulices Varges, 24, a member of the Northsiders, were fatally shot and three others including Gomez were wounded.
Denver police- Eulices Vargas, 24
Gomez was shot in the back. The bullet severed his large intestine, filling his stomach with blood, Olinger’s story said.
Police said suspects rushed away from the scene.
Priscilla Arzate, Hernandez’s mother, wonders why those who witnessed her son’s murder have not identified anyone involved.
Ronnie “was hit four or five times. The bullets pingponged, punctured his lungs, his spinal cord,” she told Olinger. “These girls who invited these kids obviously know who these guys are. I don’t blame them for being scared. I think they need to stand up.”
No one has been arrested in any of the shootings.
Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 720-913-7867.