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Guilty plea in 2 shootings that left 3 people dead in Aurora

The victims were killed in two separate shootings days apart in July 2020.

AURORA, Colo. — A man pleaded guilty this month in two fatal shootings that happened days apart in the summer of 2020 and left three people dead in Aurora.

Master Martin, now 22, was arrested in September of that year. On Jan. 17 of this year, he pleaded to three counts of second-degree murder related to both shootings in Adams County District Court. Charges of first-degree murder were dismissed as a result of the plea.

Officers from the Aurora Police Department responded around 1:45 a.m. on July 5 to reports of a shooting in the area of East Colfax Avenue and North Beeler Street and found the victim on the ground.

The victim was taken to the hospital, where he died from his injuries.

The Adams County coroner's office identified him as Percil Walls. Walls was from Memphis, Tennessee, the coroner's office said.

A second shooting was reported two days later on July 7 around 12:12 a.m. at the same location.  A woman was pronounced dead at the scene. She was identified as 35-year-old Crystal Black. A man was taken to the hospital, where he later died from his injuries. He was identified as 44-year-old Moses Hamm.

On the day of his plea, Martin was immediately sentenced to 20 years in the Department of Corrections for each of the three counts. Those sentences will be served consecutively for a total of 60 years.

Dontavious Hetzel was also arrested. He was charged as an accessory to the July 5 shooting and previously pleaded guilty in the case. He was sentenced to community corrections, court records show.

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