AURORA, Colo. — A victim in a targeted shooting along I-225 on Oct. 18 has died of his injuries, upgrading the suspect's charges from attempted murder to murder, the Aurora Police Department announced on Tuesday.
Celin Villeda Orellana, 38, was arrested on Thursday. Aurora Police Chief Todd Chamberlain announced the same day that the victim, who has not been identified, was "clinging to life" and was not expected to survive much longer.
APD said it learned the victim died on Sunday evening. Police worked with the 18th Judicial District Attorney’s Office to change the attempted murder charge to first-degree murder. The new charge was approved by a judge on Monday. Orellana also faces charges of first-degree assault, menacing and illegal discharge of a firearm.
APD found that Orellana, who is a Honduras national, was planning to flee the country when he was arrested. He was not legally in the United States as of the time of the shooting, Chamberlain said.
The shooting happened around 1:14 a.m. on Oct. 18, when patrol officers with APD responded to multiple reports of a single-vehicle crash on southbound I-225 near E. 6th Avenue. Officers determined that the driver had been shot multiple times, including twice in the neck and once in the arm, before crashing into the jersey barrier, Chamberlain said. The man was brought to a local hospital with serious injuries.
When officers arrived at the crash scene and began to process it, they had very little information to go off of, Chamberlain said. Based on good detective work and their federal partners, they were able to identify Orellana as the suspect, he said.
During the investigation, APD investigators used Flock Safety cameras with license plate readers to see where the victim had traveled that day. While backtracking his movements, they noticed a driver was following the victim all over town and throughout the night. Police determined the other vehicle — the suspect vehicle — was registered to Orellana, APD said. They started to develop probable cause for an arrest.
On Thursday afternoon, APD officers arrested Orellana during a traffic stop near 114th Avenue and Havana Street, and during a search of his car, found a firearm and spent shell casing, Hildebrand said. Because of this, Orellana was transferred to ICE for possible federal charges related to possession of a handgun.
During the press conference, Chamberlain stressed that even though APD did not yet have an arrest warrant ready, they were still able to take the suspect into custody because of those possible federal charges and their partnership with federal agencies on the case.
As far as a motive, Chamberlain said it remains under investigation but Orellana and the victim knew each other, and both men knew a woman who was also connected with the case. It appeared to be a "relationship issue," he said.
Denver7 is committed to making a difference in our community by standing up for what's right, listening, lending a helping hand and following through on promises. See that work in action, in the videos above.
