DENVER — The two defendants accused of killing a 19-year-old outside the Denver aquarium in February 2024 have pleaded guilty and are set to be sentenced in March.
The defendants, 19-year-old Jason Trujillo and 21-year-old Antonio Vasquez, both pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, according to Matt Jablow, spokesperson with the Denver District Attorney's Office. He also confirmed to Denver7 that they will be sentenced on March 6.
Trujillo and Vasquez were arrested months after Dacien Salazar, 19, was killed in a drive-by shooting outside of the Denver Aquarium on Feb. 14, 2024. He was taken to the hospital, where he later died.
That day, a bystander told Denver7 she heard several rounds outside the aquarium just after 3 p.m.
A reward for information increased in mid-April 2024, as authorities continued searching for the suspects.
Trujillo and Vasquez were arrested in May 2024 on charges of first-degree murder in connection with Salazar's death.
According to court documents, and as previously reported by Denver7, Salazar and two friends traveled to the aquarium from Pueblo for Valentine's Day. They were standing outside of the aquarium when the driver of a black sedan pulled up near them. A person in the car, who was wearing a black mask, opened fire at Salazar, the affidavit read.
Investigators learned afterward that people had made threats to Salazar over Facebook, including one threat that came from four people, including Trujillo. The investigators also learned that the shooting outside the aquarium was connected with a shooting in Pueblo, where nobody was injured. Details around that incident were heavily redacted in the affidavit.
Authorities were able to obtain surveillance footage of two people — whose descriptions matched the people seen in the black sedan during the shooting — leaving a hotel just before the shooting. They two people were then seen returning to the hotel around 7 p.m. on Feb. 14. Records showed that Vasquez's cell phone had traveled from that same hotel to the aquarium at the time of the shooting, then went to Colorado Springs and then returned to the hotel, the affidavit reads.
Police learned about Trujillo's involvement through an anonymous tipster.
Vasquez pleaded guilty on Dec. 19, 2025 and Trujillo pleaded guilty on Jan. 16, 2026, according to the Denver DA's Office.
