LAKEWOOD, Colo. — A jury convicted a man of first-degree murder in connection with a fatal shooting in June 2019 but found him not guilty in connection with the shooting of a woman who was injured during the same incident.
Christopher Michael Pride was found guilty on May 14 on the following charges:
- Felony first-degree murder
- Four counts of aggravated robbery
- Four counts of conspiracy to commit aggravated robbery
The charges relate to the shooting of 21-year-old Roderick Vecchiarelli on June 17, 2019.
Lakewood Police were called to 1550 Depew St. lot 6W, on a report that a male and female had been shot.
Angela Saiz-Ortiz, 49, was shot multiple times in her legs but survived. The evidence in the case showed that Vecchiarelli and Saiz-Ortiz were robbed before they were shot. Immediately after shots were fired, witnesses reported a suspect vehicle leaving the scene at a high rate of speed.
Shortly after, in nearby Edgewater, officers were investigating a traffic accident with a vehicle matching the suspect vehicle. The male driver was identified as Danny Carter and the female passenger was Michelle Lee Prissel.
The investigation revealed there were two additional passengers in the car that fled the scene, both are believed to have fired the shots.
One of the males, identified through cell phone records and surveillance footage, was Pride.
He was arrested in Colorado Springs the day after the shooting.
Pride was on federal probation and supervised probation at the time of the murder.
After a two-week jury trial, jurors deliberated for over 2 days before returning their verdicts. The jury returned not guilty verdicts on the following charges:
- First-degree murder – after deliberation
- Attempted first-degree murder
- Assault in the first degree
Pride has a lengthy criminal history with prior arrests for assault, robbery, motor vehicle theft. He'll be sentenced on June 29 and is expected to receive life in prison.
Codefendant Keshun Bastian previously pleaded guilty to the following charges:
- Second-degree murder
- First-degree assault
- Two counts of aggravated robbery
Bastian was sentenced to a 45-year prison sentence on March 16, 2021.
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