On the evening of May 21, 2025, a burst of gunfire shattered the quiet of a residential street in northwest Aurora, forever altering the lives of two families. When police arrived at the 3100 block of Ursula Street around 7:15 p.m., they discovered two young men who had been shot. One of the victims, a Hispanic male identified as 18-year-old Ernesto Jae Sandoval of Wheat Ridge, was rushed to a nearby hospital with life-threatening injuries.
Despite medical efforts, he later succumbed to his wounds. The second victim, a 17-year-old boy from Denver, sustained injuries that were not considered life-threatening and was expected to recover.
The initial investigation by the Aurora Police Department's Major Crime Homicide Unit offered no immediate information about a suspect or a motive for the shooting. As the community grappled with the sudden violence, authorities appealed to the public for any information that could lead to an arrest. Weeks later, a breakthrough in the case came when detectives identified two suspects.
In mid-June, the department's fugitive unit located and arrested a 17-year-old male from Aurora. He was taken into custody on suspicion of second-degree murder and aggravated robbery. Nine days later, on June 27, patrol officers apprehended a second suspect, identified as 19-year-old Yoel Uriel Romero of Aurora, on the same charges. The Adams County Coroner's Office had officially identified Ernesto Jae Sandoval as the deceased, and the case against the two suspects was forwarded to the 17th Judicial District Attorney's Office for formal charging decisions. While arrests have been made, the underlying reasons for the fatal encounter remain undisclosed to the public.
