DENVER — Ballistics tests led to the arrest of a man suspected of stalking and shooting at a Denver coroner’s investigator, according to court documents obtained by 9NEWS.
Javon Perez, 19, faces three counts of felony menacing and charges of harassment and prohibited use of a weapon in the incident, which unfolded in the early morning hours of May 14, 2023. Denver police arrested Perez on April 12.
The incident began as the coroner’s investigator was returning to the office after responding to a Montbello home where a woman had died. During the drive, the investigator notice the small vehicle and called police.
Denver Police told the investigator to stall, and two officers set up in the parking lot of the medical examiner’s office at 500 Quivas St.
When the coroner’s investigator pulled in, the car was still following her. The person inside opened fire at the investigator and the two Denver Police officers, then sped away.
Initially, the best clue was a 9mm shell casing found along Quivas Street that investigators believed had been left behind by the shooter.
Court documents obtained by 9NEWS show that the big break in the investigation came in March when cell tower data led Denver Police detectives to Perez.
Perez, it turned out, had surrendered six guns to Denver Police in September – four months after the incident involving the coroner’s investigator – after a family member reported he was heavily armed and acting erratically.
Once detectives made that connection, they obtained a search warrant allowing them to conduct ballistics tests on the weapons to see whether any matched a shell casing believed to have been left behind by the shooter.
According to an arrest warrant affidavit, ballistics tests linked the shell casing found after the shooting with a handgun Perez turned over to police.
More 9NEWS stories by Kevin Vaughan:
SUGGESTED VIDEOS: Investigations & Crime