A New Year's celebration among friends and family ended in tragedy when Mario Rivera, a 42-year-old Hispanic man, was shot and killed at a house party in Denver. Rivera, who worked as a construction equipment operator, was attending the gathering in the city's Harvey Park neighborhood in the early hours of January 1, 2024.
The party was being held at a home in the 2500 block of South Zenobia Street when an argument broke out.
The dispute began inside the house and soon moved into the front yard. As people gathered outside, someone fired a handgun into the crowd. Rivera was struck by multiple bullets, including one to the head. Another man was also critically wounded, suffering gunshot wounds to his face, neck, and abdomen.
Police responded to the scene at 1:31 a.m. to find a large, chaotic crowd yelling and arguing in the front yard. Paramedics rushed Rivera to Swedish Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at 1:59 a.m. The Denver Office of the Medical Examiner later confirmed his cause of death was a gunshot wound and ruled the manner of death a homicide.
The investigation initially led police to arrest 42-year-old Anthony Lopez on January 1. Lopez had attended the party with his son and daughter, and witnesses said his group had been involved in an altercation and was asked to leave. He was arrested on suspicion of first-degree murder.
However, just days later, police announced a significant development in the case. Investigators determined that Lopez's 19-year-old son, Isaiah Hernandez, was the one who had fired the fatal shots. Police arrested Hernandez on January 3 for an investigation of first-degree murder.
Following his son's arrest, the charges against Anthony Lopez were changed. He is now charged with accessory to a crime. As of January 2024, the cases against both Isaiah Hernandez and Anthony Lopez were pending.
