On an autumn evening in Pine Ridge, South Dakota, the life of Vincent Von Brewer III, a 29-year-old Native American man, was tragically cut short. On October 16, 2016, in front of the SuAnne Big Crow Center, Brewer was shot fifteen times with an assault rifle and a 9mm handgun as he tried to escape his attackers. The motive behind this violent act was reportedly a drug debt, with his assailants attempting to kidnap him before the fatal shots were fired.
The investigation into Brewer's
death was a collaborative effort involving the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Oglala Sioux Tribe Department of Public Safety Criminal Investigations, and police departments from Denver and Aurora, Colorado. This extensive investigation led to the identification and indictment of three men from Denver, Colorado: Francisco Villanueva, Adan Corona, and Estevan Baquera. The legal proceedings that followed painted a grim picture of the events that transpired.
In September 2021, a federal jury found Francisco Villanueva and Adan Corona guilty of multiple charges, including first-degree premeditated murder. Villanueva was subsequently sentenced to two consecutive life sentences in federal prison. Corona also received a life sentence, in addition to a consecutive ten-year sentence on a firearm charge. The third man, Estevan Baquera, pleaded guilty to accessory after the fact to first-degree murder for his role in the assault and for preventing bystanders from intervening. He was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison.
