City jail inmate dies

AURORA | An inmate at the Aurora City Jail died early Monday morning, according to a statement from the city. 

Jeffon Shaw was found unresponsive in his cell around 3 a.m. Monday and later died at an area hospital. 

According to a statement from the city, Shaw had been at the jail since his arrest on two warrants Saturday. 

Sara Castellanos and I are working on this story now and should have more information shortly. 

Click below for the city’s press release on Shaw’s death. 

Big award for 911 center

By SARA CASTELLANOS 

AURORA | Aurora’s 9-1-1 Call Center is in a league of its own.

The call center on Tuesday received the “2010 Outstanding 9-1-1 Call Center” award out of more than 8,000 call centers in the nation.

The award was presented by the E9-1-1 Institute to a few call center staff members at an awards gala in Washington, D.C., that was attended by more than 550 people.

“We were very honored,” said Michael Bedwell, the city’s police and fire dispatch center manager. “We work very hard to become an outstanding call center. We’ve got a great staff, and it’s really nice just to be recognized on a national level for what we’ve done.”

The call center received the award for its high level of customer service even in the face of budget cuts, handling of emergency situations and management of new technology.

For the full story, click here. 

CSP aims for focused drivers

AURORA | The Colorado State Patrol and the Colorado Department of Transportation are hoping to raise awareness about the leading cause of serious car accidents in the state: distracted driving. 

“When we think of distractions behind the wheel we often focus on cell phones, but there are so many other things that can cause us to take our attention off of the task at hand which is driving,” Colonel James Wolfinbarger, Chief of the Colorado State Patrol, said in a statement Sunday.  

The organizations are taking part in National Distracted Driving Awareness Month, using a webinar, media campaign and other efforts to try to encourage drivers to pay more attention when they are behind the wheel. 

According to CSP, distracted driving is not only the leading cause of injury accidents in Colorado, nationwide, distracted drivers killed almost 5,500 people in 2009. 

“Driving a vehicle is one of the most important and dangerous things we do, and it deserves our complete attention, both physically and cognitively,” Pamela Hutton, the governor’s representative for highway safety at the Colorado Department of Transportation, said in the statement. “Two seconds of distraction can turn to disaster, so please put down your phone, eat at a table — not at your steering wheel, and focus on the road.”

For the CSP release, click below. 

Coroner ID's men killed in Thurs. shooting

AURORA | The Arapahoe County coroner’s office on Friday identified two men killed in an apparent burglary attempt as Jovan Rivers, 30, and Harrell King, 33. 

Both men died of gunshot wounds, the coroner’s office said. 

Police said Thursday the pair were shot when they tried to steal medical marijuana from a couple at an Aurora apartment. 

The two people who lived in the apartment, whose names were not released, were also injured in the shootings, police said. It wasn’t clear Friday what their condition was. 

Police said the case remains under investigation. 

Teen takes deal in kidnap case

AURORA | One of three teenagers accused of kidnapping two men last fall and leaving them bound in a locked storage shed for more than a day has accepted a plea agreement, according to prosecutors.

Edgar Alonso Montelongo, 19, pleaded guilty last week to second-degree kidnapping and conspiracy to commit kidnapping in exchange for prosecutors dropping the other charges against him, including a first-degree kidnapping charge that could have carried a life sentence.

According to court records, Montelongo must testify in the cases of his co-defendants, Jaime Baca, now 20, and Mariano Rosales, 17.

It wasn’t clear from court records what sentence Montelongo could face, but the kidnapping charge he plead guilty to could carry a sentence of between eight and 24 years in prison, and in some cases up to 48 years in prison. The conspiracy charge typically carries a sentence of between four and 12 years in prison.

During a hearing in February, prosecutors said the three teens kidnapped the men and bound their eyes and mouths with duct tape before locking them in a shed.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Justin Moore said the three defendants then demanded a $50,000 ransom and four automobiles for the victim’s release.

Moore’s comments during the February hearing marked the first time police or prosecutors have publicly discussed details of the case since the trio’s November arrests.

For the full story, click here.

Arraignment set in Pham slaying

Lupe Rubio

AURORA | A woman accused of helping her boyfriend plan a robbery that left her boss dead last year at a north Aurora apartment complex is set to enter a plea next week in an Adams County courtroom.

Lupe Rubio, 43, is scheduled for arraignment April 6 in Adams County District Court in Brighton.

At a preliminary hearing in January, a judge ruled there was ample evidence for Rubio to stand trial on a first-degree murder charge, according to court records.

Rubio, 43, was arrested Oct. 28 and charged with first-degree murder, robbery and being an accessory to murder in connection with the March 2010 killing of Lyndsay Pham at the apartment complex Pham owned.

At the time, prosecutors also issued an arrest warrant for Javier Agurre, 30.

Agurre, who also goes by Manuel Morales Acosta, is a citizen of Mexico and is believed to have fled to his home country, prosecutors said.

There is a $20,000 reward being offered for Agurre’s capture and conviction.

For the full story, click here.

Report: Aurora man killed in Juarez

AURORA | An Aurora man was gunned down in the ongoing violence in Juarez, Mexico, this week, a Denver television station is reporting. 

Jake Marlowe Reyes-Neal, an Aurora Central High School graduate, was gunned down Wednesday in the border town that has been ravaged by drug violence for more than a year, according to 9News. 

Reyes-Neal moved to Juarez with his wife, also a former Central student, after she was unable to gain permanent residence in the United States. 

The television station reported the US Consulate was aware of the slaying.