AURORA, Colo. — An 18-year-old man arrested and accused of fatally shooting a man earlier this month in a road rage incident in Aurora was on probation at the time of the killing for three separate cases he picked up as a juvenile, according to an affidavit for his arrest.
Juan Carlos Rivas-Luna, 18, is a known gang member, according to the affidavit from the Aurora Police Department. He and his girlfriend 18-year-old Aracely Enriquez were arrested Monday in connection with the June 5 shooting of 48-year-old Stephen Qualls.
Rivas-Luna faces a charge of first-degree murder and Enriquez was arrested on suspicion of accessory to first-degree murder.
David Allen, a nephew of Qualls, said on behalf of the family, they are not satisfied until there is a verdict in the case.
"He made a major impact on everybody's life," Allen said. "He will be truly missed and always loved."
Officers responded to the shooting around 9:53 p.m. June 5 near South Havana Street near East Idaho Place.
Once there, they found Qualls with a gunshot wound on the ground next to a vehicle. He had been driving the vehicle and several family members, including two young children, were with him.
Qualls' significant other told police they were headed south on South Havana Street when a red or maroon SUV drove between their vehicle and another vehicle, narrowly missing them both, the affidavit says. She said Qualls had to swerve to avoid getting in a crash. A review of city cameras corroborated her story.
She said they continued on their way and ended up stopping at the traffic light at East Idaho Place and South Havana Street at the same time as the SUV.
She said Qualls rolled down his window and asked the people in the other car if they were OK, the affidavit says.
Someone in the SUV rolled down the passenger side window about two inches and Qualls made a comment to them that the "sh** you did back there was not safe," according to the document.
She reported that the SUV occupants said something she could not hear, then she saw the driver, identified as Rivas-Luna, reach around the center console and then raise his arm across the front seat passenger, later identified as Enriquez.
Seconds later, she said, she saw the front passenger window shatter and heard a gunshot and saw Qualls fall to the ground, according to the affidavit.
Rivas-Luna drove away while the others with Qualls rendered aid and called 911, according to the document. Qualls was taken to the hospital and pronounced dead. According to the coroner's office, he died from a single gunshot wound to the chest.
Aurora Police reviewed city camera footage which captured the near miss of the two vehicles and used information from the video and descriptions from witnesses to put out a BOLO for the SUV.
The day after the shooting, a member of the APD gang unit spotted what he believed to be that vehicle in front of a home on Hanover Street, where Rivas-Luna lived.
That officer noted that there was shattered glass on the ground next to the vehicle and that the driver's side window and front passenger window appeared "new."
He also observed a deformity next to the glass of the window that was "consistent" with a bullet hole, the affidavit says.
The officer said Rivas-Luna is a gang member and is known to carry guns and has been involved in "several violent crimes" in Aurora.
According to the affidavit, he's currently on probation for three weapons offenses that occurred while he was a juvenile. Investigators later learned that Rivas-Luna is the suspected shooter in an open homicide that occurred in 2021 in Aurora. A deputy with the sheriff's office said he was investigating "several shootings" around the metro area that Rivas-Luna was also believed to be involved in.
When officers had the SUV towed from the home on Hanover Street they were approached by the two suspects.
Without being provoked, Rivas-Luna asked the officer if the vehicle was being towed due to a shooting on Mississippi Avenue, the affidavit says. He went on to say that someone had told him police were looking for a vehicle like his, according to the document.
According to the affidavit, Enriquez denied driving the vehicle on June 5, the day of the shooting and said that Rivas-Luna had never driven it. However, cellphone data from both of their phones put them in the area where the shooting occurred around the time it occurred. The data also showed them moving along South Havana Street at the time of the "near miss" crash.
Rivas-Lunas is due in court next on June 26. Enriquez is due in court on July 13.
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