Leon Guerra

Leon Lorenzo Dean Guerra, a 21-year-old Hispanic man, was killed on a winter evening in Northglenn, Colorado. The sudden burst of violence on January 7, 2022, cut his life short and launched a lengthy police investigation to find who was responsible.

The fatal encounter happened at approximately 11:20 p.m. in the 1300 block of Regina Lane. According to police, shots were fired between two cars in the roadway, a white four-door Pontiac Grand Am and a dark-colored four-door sedan. Both vehicles sped away from the scene after the shooting. Guerra, who had been in the Pontiac, was driven to a local hospital a short time later. He was pronounced deceased at the hospital from a gunshot wound.

For over a year, Northglenn police investigated the homicide. A significant breakthrough came in March 2023, when an arrest warrant was issued in Adams County for 18-year-old Camron Enrique Acosta. On the afternoon of March 14, law enforcement in the city of Arvada attempted a traffic stop on a vehicle Acosta was driving at 50th Avenue and Kipling Street. He fled, leading officers on a pursuit that ended when his car crashed into two other stopped vehicles. Nobody was injured in the crash. Acosta was taken into custody, and officers recovered two guns from his car. Two juveniles were also arrested at the scene, though authorities did not state if they were connected to the homicide.

Following his arrest, Camron Enrique Acosta was charged with first-degree murder for the shooting death of Leon Guerra. The case proceeded through the justice system, resulting in Acosta's conviction for his role in the killing. He was sentenced to serve 16 years in the Department of Corrections. With the perpetrator tried and sentenced, the case is now considered closed.