In the early summer of 2022, a sense of unease settled over a Denver family when 30-year-old Isaiah Aragon-Morales vanished from his west Denver home on June 4th. For twelve agonizing days, his whereabouts remained a mystery. The search came to a grim conclusion on June 16th when his body was discovered inside a parked SUV in the Villa Park neighborhood.
An autopsy would later confirm that the young man had died from gunshot wounds, and his death was officially ruled a homicide.
Investigators began to piece together the events leading to the tragic discovery. The SUV where Isaiah was found had been reported stolen from a local restaurant nearly a month prior, on May 7th. A crucial piece of evidence came in the form of a fingerprint lifted from the driver's side door of the stolen vehicle. This, combined with surveillance footage, pointed authorities toward a suspect: 30-year-old Spencer Doom. The footage showed that Doom had been with Isaiah on the evening he disappeared. Authorities believe that Doom shot and killed Isaiah inside the SUV near Sixth Avenue and North Wolff Street before abandoning the vehicle with Isaiah's body inside, approximately two miles away on Hazel Court.
With a suspect identified, the investigation intensified. On June 28, 2022, with the assistance of the Edgewater Police and the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office, Denver police located and arrested Spencer Doom. He was taken into custody on suspicion of first-degree murder. Court records revealed that Doom had a prior criminal history, including arrests for drug-related offenses, and had been released from the Denver jail in May after a probation violation.
Isaiah's family, while grieving their profound loss, expressed their desire for justice. His niece remembered him as a loving individual who would selflessly help others. While acknowledging his past mistakes, his family emphasized that his criminal record did not define the loyal friend and loving father he was. The arrest of a suspect brought a small measure of relief to a family searching for answers in the wake of a senseless act of violence.
