In the winter of 2021, a planned sale of clothing tragically turned into a fatal encounter for 18-year-old Fernando Nahum Perez, a Hispanic male from Thornton, Colorado. On the evening of December 3rd, Perez had arranged to meet with two individuals to sell some clothes. The meeting, which took place in the vicinity of East 101st Avenue and Clayton Street in Thornton, was orchestrated through social media communication. However, the transaction quickly escalated into a violent robbery.
During the course of the robbery, Fernando Perez was shot. Thornton police officers responded to the scene around 8:15 p.m. to find Perez grievously wounded. He was immediately transported to a local hospital for medical attention. Despite the efforts of medical personnel, Perez succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced dead. The initial belief by law enforcement was that he had been stabbed, but it was later determined that a gunshot wound was the cause of death.
The investigation into the homicide led Thornton Police Department investigators to identify two suspects: Jonathan Garcia, who was 19 at the time, and Matthew McMahon, then 18. The dedicated work of the investigators over the following couple of months resulted in the arrests of both individuals. Garcia and McMahon were formally charged with first-degree murder, second-degree murder, aggravated robbery, and conspiracy to commit aggravated robbery in connection with the fatal shooting of Fernando Perez.
Ultimately, both men pleaded guilty to their roles in the death of Fernando Perez. Jonathan Garcia pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of second-degree murder and in August 2023, was sentenced to 28 years in prison. Matthew McMahon pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in December 2022. He was sentenced in February 2023 to serve six years in the youth offender system, followed by an 18-year sentence in the Department of Corrections.
