JEFFERSON COUNTY, Colo. — One of four people arrested in connection with the 2019 death of a Wheat Ridge man was sentenced Friday to 16 years in the Department of Corrections (DOC), according to the First Judicial District Attorney's office.
Jonathan Montoya pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and other charges including aggravated robbery on June 26, 2021.
He was arrested in January 2020, about a year after Ervin Spahitch, 23, was murdered.
On Jan. 26, 2019, Wheat Ridge police (WRPD) officers responded to a report of shots fired on the 3200 block of Gray Street and found Spahitch non-responsive and bleeding inside a Toyota Prius.
The Prius' engine was still running, there were apparent bullet holes in the car and there were shell casings on the ground near the car, according to arrest affidavits.
Spahitch was pronounced dead at the scene.
Montoya was and two of the other suspects were juveniles at the time of the killing.
Marissa Lawrence, Jalen Isiah Wilson, and Christian Salas were the others arrested and charged in the case.
Lawrence pleaded guilty on Dec. 2, 2020, to first-degree murder and aggravated robbery, according to court records.
Salas pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and aggravated robbery on Feb. 2, 2021.
Wilson is set to be sentenced on Sept. 23 after pleading guilty on May 5, 2021, to first-degree murder and aggravated robbery.
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