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Friend of Commerce City homicide victim pleads for new leads in case

"I feel like he deserves his justice, and it's not fair that, I feel like, his case is kind of forgotten," Andrea Montoya said.

COMMERCE CITY, Colo. — Nearly a year after a young man was killed in Commerce City, his family and friends still don't know what happened. 

Friends told 9NEWS Erik Sarmiento Rodriguez was killed in a parking lot in October.

"He was so passionate about what he did. He would build a truck from the ground up and then he would sell it and start all over again," his friend Andrea Montoya said. "His brother actually still drives his truck to this day."

Credit: Andrea Montoya

According to Montoya, Rodriguez was one of two people killed in a shooting off East 62nd Avenue and Vasquez Boulevard in Commerce City on Oct. 27.

According to Commerce City police, a person of interest was identified shortly after the shooting, but police determined he had minimal involvement in the shooting.

RELATED: 2nd victim dies after shooting in Commerce City parking lot

Since then, no updates have come out. 

"I feel like he deserves his justice, and it's not fair that, I feel like, his case is kind of forgotten," Montoya said.

Credit: Andrea Montoya

Rodriguez loved being around trucks. He often would rebuild them from the ground up and try to inspire others to get involved in the industry. 

"He's actually the reason I'm choosing the mechanic kind of career because I got so into it after I met him," Montoya said. "He would never stop doing what he loved. Even when things would get hard, like life would go downhill for him, he would never stop."

Rodriguez may no longer be on the road, but Montoya hopes new attention to the case will drive in more leads. 

"There has to be someone that saw something, so I just want people to come forward with it," she said. 

9NEWS reached out to Commerce City Police Department for an update on this case, but we have yet to hear back.

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