Tag

homicide

Arrest warrant issued in 2007 double-homicide cold case in Aurora

This week, an arrest warrant was issued for Alejandro Garcia-Loya, DOB 9-9-87, for a double-homicide case that occurred more than a decade ago in Aurora.

Garcia-Loya is charged with the following offenses:

First-Degree Murder After Deliberation (2 Counts)

On July 16, 2007, officers with the Aurora Police Department were dispatched to a welfare check call at an apartment in the 200 block of S. Jasper Circle. Family of Ignacio Zamudio-Estrada called police to share concerns that they had not heard from Ignacio in several days and that multiple phone calls went unanswered.

A responding officer arrived at the complex and opened an unlocked sliding back door. The officer immediately smelled an odor consistent with a decomposing body. Upon entry, officers found two deceased victims with severe trauma to their heads. Both were pronounced dead on-scene.

The victims were identified as:

Juan Ayala-Medina

Ignacio Zamudio-Estrada

Detectives with the Aurora Police Department searched the apartment and found a utility bill in the name of Alejandro Garcia-Loya, who was not related to either of the victims but resided in the apartment. Detectives also found a social security card with the name “Alejandro Garcia,” but discovered that social security card was fraudulent because the social security number on the card did not match the physical name.

Shortly after the murders, detectives sent several pieces of evidence from the apartment to CBI for examination. A spoon and a Mountain Dew can were collected from Alejandro’s room and later DNA tested. The results show the DNA collected from the items were from a single contributor. Fingerprints were also collected from Alejandro’s bedroom without any successful matches. In that same bedroom, a Walmart receipt was found showing a purchase of the Mountain Dew bottle and a youth baseball bat shortly before the crime took place. The youth baseball bat was not recovered.

Several years later, the Department of Homeland Security Latent Print Unit got a “hit” on the latent prints submitted in 2007. The fingerprints in the DHS system for Alejandro Garcia-Loya matched the five latent prints collected from the homicide scene.

On April 11, 2023, Aurora Police Detective Jason McDonald completed a review of this case and concluded the third roommate who fled to Mexico after killing Ignacio Zamudio-Estrada and Juan Ayala-Medina is Alejandro Garcia-Loya.

“The Aurora Police Department, along with the Major Crime Homicide Unit, is committed to finding justice for our victims and their families. Just because a case goes cold, does not mean it is forgotten,” said Major Crime Homicide Unit Sgt. Chris Cruser. “Our detectives are always looking for new leads, evidence and information to solve cases. This is just one example of their efforts and dedication.”

At this point in time, the defendant has not yet been apprehended. Anyone with information about his whereabouts can call Metro Denver Crime Stoppers at 720-913-7867.

“As time passes, cases can become tougher to solve,” Deputy District Attorney Grant Grosgebauer said. “No matter how much time passes, our Cold Case Unit is solely focused on holding offenders accountable and ensuring victims get justice.”

Man convicted of killing Aurora couple who responded to online car advertisement

On August 31, a jury found Kyree Brown, 20, guilty of killing Joe and Jossline Roland after the couple responded to an online ad to purchase a car.

The investigation revealed Brown used a fake name to advertise a stolen vehicle for sale on an app called Letgo. On August 14, 2020, Joe Roland replied to the listing and agreed to meet to purchase the car.

Brown drove the stolen vehicle to Southlands Mall to meet with the Rolands. When Joe Roland noticed issues with the vehicle title, Brown pulled out a gun and demanded the couple hand over the cash they brought to purchase the car. Brown then proceeded to shoot five times, killing both Joe and Jossline Roland.

“This defendant assumed a fake identity to lure this innocent couple into his snare, pretending to be someone he wasn’t and to sell a car he didn’t own,” Chief Deputy District Attorney Garrik Storgaard said. “He callously ended two innocent lives for a few thousand dollars and his selfish actions created an unjustifiable risk to the community and displayed no regard for the value of human life.”

Brown made off with approximately $3,000, fled the scene and dumped the stolen car near the area of Havana Street and East Colfax Avenue where he set it on fire.

Investigators were able to solve this case by pulling computer records showing Brown’s email address was used to list the stolen vehicle online.

The Rolands leave behind five children, all under the age of 19.

A jury convicted Brown on the following counts:

Second-Degree Murder (2 counts)
First-Degree Murder-Felony Murder (2 counts)
Aggravated Robbery (2 counts)
Second-Degree Arson
Aggravated Motor Vehicle Theft (3 counts)
Felony Theft
Bait Advertising

Brown will be sentenced on Nov. 21

“This cowardly act of violence leaves five children without their parents,” District Attorney John Kellner said. “I think about the back-to-school nights without their parents. The bedtime stories never read. Words just can’t describe what this killer took away. He deserves to spend the rest of his life behind bars.”

Judge sentences man in decades-old murder to life in prison

Arapahoe County Judge Darren Vahle sentenced David Dwayne Anderson, 63, to life in prison for killing Sylvia Quayle, 34, in her home back in 1981. The sentence comes exactly 41 years after her murder.

On August 4, 1981, Quayle was found dead inside her Cherry Hills home in the 3800 block of S. Ogden Street. The Coroner’s report revealed Quayle had been shot in the head, repeatedly stabbed and sexually assaulted.

“The brutality and randomness of this crime is every parent’s worst nightmare,” Deputy District Attorney Grant Grosgebauer said. “After he murdered Sylvia, he went on to live his life as if everything was normal. He got to experience marriage and kids. Sadly, Sylvia never got to experience those things.”

In 2000, the Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI) submitted a DNA sample to the FBI’s Combined DNA Index System, also known as CODIS. The DNA sample remained unidentified for two decades until advances in DNA linked Anderson to the crime.

In 2020, the Cherry Hills Village Police Department began working with a genetic genealogy company named United Data Connect. The company provided the police department with a possible lead after samples from the decades-old cold case were entered into two public DNA databases.

In 2021, an investigator with United Data Connect went to Anderson’s residence to discretely obtain a new DNA sample. That investigator collected trash bags from an apartment complex dumpster where Anderson resided. Lab results found DNA on a soda can from Anderson’s trash bag matched DNA collected from the crime scene.

Anderson was charged with two counts of first-degree murder (After Deliberation and Felony Murder) and initially went to trial in March 2022. After five days, jurors were unable to reach a verdict and a judge declared a mistrial.

The 18^th Judicial District Attorney’s office took the case to trial again and on June 30, 2022, a jury returned guilty verdicts on both counts of murder. However, legal precedent only allows a defendant convicted of a single homicide to be sentenced on one homicide charge.

“Sylvia’s murder turned my family’s world upside down,” Jo Hamit, Sylvia’s sister said. “For the past 41 years, Sylvia missed out on family celebrations and numerous social occasions. Mr. Anderson has lived for the last four decades without giving his crime or my sister a second thought, while my family has suffered irreparable mental and emotional anguish during this time of uncertainty. I have found it necessary to forgive Mr. Anderson, but he needs to bear the consequences of his actions.”

Based on the sentencing laws in effect at the time of the crime, Anderson received the maximum sentence—life behind bars with the possibility of parole after 20 calendar years.

“As decades passed, many people thought this case would remain unsolved forever,” District Attorney John Kellner said. “Advancements in science combined with the tenacity of investigators and prosecutors led to justice today.”

Aurora man sentenced to 60 years for killing girlfriend in apartment

Arapahoe County Judge Elizabeth Ann Weishaupl sentenced Dakota Chinnock, 21, to 60 years in the Department of Corrections for killing his 20-year-old girlfriend last year.

On the morning of September 5, 2021, Chinnock called police to report that he found his girlfriend unconscious and not breathing in their Aurora apartment.

When officers arrived, they discovered the victim, Amanda Farley, 20, lying face up on a bedroom floor with severe swelling to her face. One officer described her face as being “unrecognizable”. The investigation also revealed multiple human bite marks on Farley’s body.

When questioned by police, Chinnock suggested her death may have resulted from a home invasion. He claimed he had been drinking earlier in the night and when he woke up, the apartment was in disarray and Farley was in a pool of blood.

Investigators noted there was no smell of alcohol on Chinnock and there appeared to be no forced entry into the apartment unit. Hours prior to Chinnock calling police, witnesses living in the complex reported hearing yelling and a female crying from the apartment.

Surveillance video obtained by police also provided key evidence showing Chinnock and Farley arguing outside their apartment. Chinnock is seen grabbing an object resembling a propane tank and hitting Farley in the head with it. Surveillance footage then shows both going into the apartment and out of the camera’s view.

“The defendant brutally attacked this woman he supposedly loved for hours,” Deputy District Attorney Lisa Gramer said. “He ended the life of his high school sweetheart, whose only real mistake was that she loved him back.”

Chinnock pleaded guilty to 2nd Degree Murder and Kidnapping.

“I cannot address the pain, the suffering, the grief, and the loss that happened through Mr. Chinnock’s actions,” Judge Weishaupl said during sentencing. “There is no sentence I could give that would allow me to heal what Mr. Chinnock has done.”

Chinnock was sentenced to 48 years behind bars for 2^nd Degree Murder and 12 years on the Kidnapping charge.

“Mr. Chinnock received the maximum prison sentence allowed for 2^nd Degree Murder and quite frankly, he deserves to never walk the streets again,” District Attorney John Kellner said. “He came up with a phony story of a home invasion which was easily debunked by the physical evidence.”