Denver teenager will face charges in “heinous” murder as an adult

FILE PHOTO: In a photo taken last August, Saad Dominguez, the father of Josiaz “JoJo” Aragon, a 14-year-old who was killed last Monday with his body found near the baseball field at the Southwest Recreation Center, hugs another mourner as they gather for a candle-lit vigil on Monday, August 15, 2022, in Denver, Colo.(Timothy Hurst/The Denver Gazette)
Timothy Hurst
The Denver teenager accused of murdering Josiaz “JoJo” Aragon two days before his 15th birthday will stand trial as an adult.
Denver District Court Judge Karen Brody mentioned the “heinous nature” of Aragon’s killing when she ordered 17-year-old Diego Lopez to face first-degree murder charges and to be held on $2 million dollars cash bond.
Lopez’ attorneys had requested to reverse Denver District Attorney Beth McCann’s decision in October to charge him as an adult.
Lopez was 16 years-old when Aragon’s body was found near home plate of a ball field behind Denver’s Southwest Recreation Center shot, stabbed and stomped-on the afternoon of August 8, 2022. According to arrest documents, the two of them were meeting to close the deal over a handgun which Aragon had for sale.
Aragon’s death was horrific even for the most seasoned investigators.
In the arrest affidavit, Denver homicide Det. Daniel Andrews wrote:”Of the 101 homicides your affiant had been either the primary or secondary investigator on, this victim suffered injuries indicative of the most violent assault your affiant has seen.”
In a reverse transfer hearing held this past Spring to move Lopez’ case to juvenile court, his attorneys argued that he was a budding athlete who had problems with school work when the pandemic shifted students to at-home learning. They brought up the fact that Lopez had a tumultuous family life and called in a child psychiatrist who had worked with him since he’d been behind bars.
Dr. Teresa Mayer explained that Lopez’ learning disabilities made him the equivalent of a 8-9 year-old, but said: “He has the ability to have very pro-social interactions. He cares a lot for his family, his friends. He wants to do the right thing and he tries very hard.”
But the prosecution shifted the emphasis from Lopez’ problems to Aragon’s family, who said that they lost an “outgoing, very ambitious, smart, funny boy” who wanted to buy his grandmother a mansion when he grew up.
At the hearing Thursday, Aragon’s family took up several rows of the courtroom. Saad Dominguez, Aragon’s father, stood up and stared at Lopez until Denver sheriff deputies asked him to sit down. He said that Lopez would not look back at him.
“Anybody with any moral sense of justice would know that he (Lopez) is not a kid after what he did,” Dominguez told The Denver Gazette.
Lopez is facing one count of first-degree murder, a charge of aggravated robbery with a real or simulated weapon, a count of possessing a firearm as a juvenile and a sentence enhancing charge of using a weapon to commit a violent crime.
He is scheduled to enter a plea to the adult charges Aug. 24.