Denver brothers charged in 2021 house party double homicide
The Denver District Attorney’s Office Tuesday announced grand jury indictments against two brothers, Denver street gang members, in connection with the 2021 murders of two people shot and killed at a Green Valley Ranch house party more than a year ago.
The murders appeared to be gang-related hits.
The indictments charge Sergio Rodarte Jr., 24, and Andrew Rodarte, 23, with multiple counts of first-degree murder and possession of a weapon by a previous offender in the May 2021 shooting of Mariceo Negrete and Josiah Salas at a Denver house party in the 4700 block of North Odessa Street. The indictments were delivered Oct. 5.
A District Attorney’s spokesperson Tuesday refused to comment on why the suspects were charged more than a year after the crime. But it’s obvious the case had to be sent to a grand jury. Denver Police arrested Rodarte a month after the shooting, but he was never charged until now.
About 50 people were at the house party that night, according to the indictments. The brothers showed up with a .45-caliber semi-automatic weapon and another unidentified weapon “both with lights and/or lasers.”
The brothers belong to the Denver street gang Only the Family (OTF). One of the victims, Negrete, allegedly belonged to the CHI 30 gang. The two gangs “had an ongoing conflict,” according to the indictment.
“Sergio and Andrew were made aware that CHI 30 members were present at the party and went to the party armed with weapons and dressed in hoodies,” according to the indictment. “Once they entered the party, Sergio and Andrew determined that Negrete was on the back patio. Then, they both put on blue hospital gloves, Sergio put on a surgical mask and pulled up his hoodie and Andrew pulled his hoodie on so tightly that his face was barely visible.”
After an argument, both suspects blocked the door to the back patio “so that no one could enter or leave,” then pulled the weapons and fired eight times.
The coroner determined Salas was shot in the back three times. Negrete was also shot in the back.
The men had posed with their weapons at Barnum Park with other OTF gang members just days before the shooting, according to the indictment.
Sergio had a felony second-degree assault with a deadly weapon conviction out of Larimer County in 2019. Andrew had a felony conviction for eluding in 2015 in Arapahoe County. He’s also got a felony conviction for escape in 2017.
The Rodarte brothers are scheduled to appear in Denver District Court for a bond hearing on December 9, 2022 at 1:30 p.m.
