An Adams County Sheriff’s Deputy won’t face any charges after he shot and killed an armed man outside a north Denver area motel last July, according to a 17th Judicial District Attorney’s Office decision letter released on Monday.

The 17th Judicial District ruled that Adams County Sheriff’s Deputy Mathew Tran legally discharged his firearm on Mario Ortega, 35, who later died in the hospital on July 14, 2023.

In an interview with The Denver Gazette news partner 9News last July, Ortega’s mother, Yolanda Venzor, said: “It’s just heartbreaking knowing your kid died and he’s been shot and all the unanswered questions.”

The answers Venzor sought at the time included: “why was he shot? What did he do to deserve to be shot? What did he do to get shot? Why did that officer get down from his vehicle already with his gun drawn?”

District Attorney Brian Mason’s letter, released on Monday, spelled out the chain of events that took place early morning on July 14, which led to Ortega’s death. Mason ruled the Critical Incident Response Team — made up of DA’s investigators and officers from area departments outside the Adams County Sheriff’s Office like the Aurora Police Department — “was thorough and complete.”

Just after midnight, Tran observed Ortega driving a 2004 Nissan Titan pickup truck and making a U-turn onto Federal Boulevard and then turn into the Lakeside Inn motel south of 64th Avenue and Federal Boulevard. While running the vehicle’s license plate information, Tran noticed Ortega and a woman rush out of the pickup truck.

After the two walked out of sight, Tran learned the truck was reported stolen, left his patrol car, then, gun drawn, walked towards the area where he last saw Ortega and the woman.

There, Tran encountered Ortega, where he recognized him to be the driver of the stolen pickup truck and ordered him to get on the ground. Ortega, repeatedly ignoring commands, continued to walk towards Tran.

The deputy then grabbed Ortega’s arm, who, still resisting Tran, pulled out a handgun inside a holster and pointed it to his own head, according to Mason’s letter.

Deputy Tran immediately stepped back and pointed his gun towards Ortega. A few moments later, Ortega raised his left arm, pulled the gun away from his face and removed the gun’s holster, records show.

Attorneys said that’s when Tran fired four rounds at Ortega, striking him twice in the torso, chest and buttocks. Tran, after noticing Ortega wasn’t moving on the ground, administered CPR on Ortega, who was later pronounced dead in the hospital.

During his interview with investigators, Tran pointed to multiple reasons as to why he drew and used his weapon.

For one, Tran initially drew his gun because “car thieves are often armed with weapons and may be inclined to use force to flee arrest,” the attorney’s decision letter said.

After Ortega pulled out his firearm and pointed it to his head, Tran didn’t immediately shoot because Ortega “held the gun to his own head,” according to the letter, adding Tran “backpedaled to find a position of cover in the parking lot while trying to tell (Ortega) ‘don’t do it.’”

When Ortega pulled the gun away, Tran, in his interview, said he “saw down the barrel” and he “felt he was going to die.”

It was then that Tran discharged his firearm, killing Ortega. Investigators later found Ortega’s weapon was a loaded Hi-Point 9-mm handgun with the serial number “defaced.” They also found 100 blue pills suspected to be fentanyl on Ortega, and an autopsy later revealed the suspect was “under the influence of methamphetamine and fentanyl at the time of his death.”

When deciding whether to charge Tran, Mason — who must prove a crime happened beyond a reasonable doubt if he files charges — decided the deputy had “little time to formulate any other less lethal response” and Ortega “presented a risk to his life,” the decision letter said.

The evidence showed, under Colorado law, that Tran legally discharged his firearm and “had objectively reasonable grounds to use deadly force,” according to Mason’s letter.

“There is no evidence to suggest that an objectively reasonable officer would have acted differently than Deputy Tran did in this incident,” according to the decision letter. “The time between Deputy Tran’s initial surprising encounter with Mr. Ortega to the time Mr. Ortega displayed a weapon was around 15 seconds. Further, less than 5 seconds elapsed between the time Mr. Ortega displayed the handgun to the time he removed it from the holster.

“Yet while this situation rapidly escalated, it was not due to Deputy Tran’s behavior or conduct. Rather, Mr. Ortega, by his actions, not only refused to comply with reasonable commands and displayed a handgun, but he also demonstrated an intent to use force with the weapon by removing it from the holster.”

Venzor, Ortega’s mother, told 9News last July “what was he doing there… I don’t know.”

“Mario was a very, very loving person,” she said. “He was judged by many because of his appearance. He was a big momma’s boy. He loved me to death.”