Denver man sentenced to life in prison following 2023 car wash shooting
Uriel Rios-Avila, 32, shot and killed David Trujillo, 52, on March 19, 2023
A Denver man will spend life in prison without the possibility of parole after shooting and killing a man at a car wash.
A Denver District Judge sentenced 32-year-old Uriel Rios-Avila to a life sentence on Tuesday on charges of first-degree murder, attempted murder and assault following the fatal shooting of 52-year-old David Trujillo on March 19, 2023.
The shooting occurred around 7:30 a.m. at the Sinclair gas station at Santa Fe Drive and Sixth Avenue when Trujillo entered the station’s car wash, according to an arrest affidavit.
A witness contacted 911 and reported that a man had been shot in the neck inside of a vehicle and a woman was running around the parking lot screaming. The shooter, according to the witness, had left the gas station on a bicycle.
Upon arriving, officers found Trujillo dead inside of his vehicle. There were two bullet holes in the driver’s side window. A woman inside of the car had entered the station for help, claiming to have a gunshot injury on her finger.
The women told investigators that she was Trujillo’s girlfriend and identified the suspect as Rios-Avila. Rios-Avila was her ex-boyfriend and the father of her two children.
Rios-Avila — now a confidant of the women’s — had found out that Trujillo was cheating on her with Rios-Avila’s current girlfriend. Rios-Avila allegedly told her that he was going to shoot Trujillo, but she didn’t take him seriously.
Security camera footage showed Rios-Avila ride his bike into the car wash bay around 30 seconds after Trujillo parked. Rios-Avila fired shots into the vehicle and left.
Detectives with the Denver Fugitive Unit located Rios-Avila in the area of the 400 block of Lions Street around six hours after the shooting, according to records. Rios-Avila allegedly fled from the officers and ran into a homeless camp and changed clothes twice. He also attempted to cut his hair to change his appearance.
Ultimately, Rios-Avila hid inside a hole under a set of train tracks before being found and arrested.
A jury found Rios-Avila guilty on Monday and he was sentenced on Tuesday.