In the early morning hours of April 5, 2024, the life of 20-year-old Gianni Fernandez, a Hispanic male, was tragically cut short in what should have been the safety of his own home. The incident unfolded around 3 a.m. at the Urban Phenix Apartments in Glendale, Colorado, a community just outside of Denver. Fernandez was fatally shot inside his apartment, and another man, his best friend, was critically injured with multiple gunshot wounds but survived.
The shooting is believed by Fernandez's family to have been the result of a robbery that took a violent turn.
According to the surviving victim's account, a woman who had been invited to the apartment was present during the shooting. He reported waking up to Fernandez yelling his name and saw a woman armed with a gun. He stated that the woman shot Fernandez and then turned the weapon on him. As he tried to crawl towards his friend, two men reportedly entered and fired more shots at both of them. In a heroic effort, his friend tried to shield Fernandez with his own body, sustaining numerous wounds in the process. Responding Glendale Police officers found Fernandez unconscious and not breathing at the scene; he was pronounced dead from his injuries.
The investigation that followed led authorities to identify three suspects in connection with the homicide: Sarah Sandoval, Caleb Choice, and Blake Andrew Warren. The investigation pieced together that a woman was seen on video letting two men into the apartment complex shortly before the shooting. The first arrest was of Sandoval, who was located and taken into custody in Austin, Texas. Soon after, Caleb Choice turned himself in to the Glendale Police Department. The third suspect, Blake Andrew Warren, was later apprehended in Spring, Texas, by U.S. Marshals. All three are facing charges related to the murder of Gianni Fernandez and the assault on his friend.
