In the early morning hours of June 15, 2019, a tragic event unfolded in a King Soopers parking lot in Denver's Green Valley Ranch neighborhood, ending the life of 21-year-old Daoud Robert Francis. The young man, a male, was discovered inside a running white Lexus SUV shortly before 2 a.m. by Denver police officers who were responding to a report of a suspicious vehicle.
Upon their arrival at the 18600 block of Green Valley Ranch Boulevard, officers found Francis deceased in the vehicle.
The coroner would later determine that he had died from a single gunshot wound to the head, and his death was ruled a homicide. Investigators also noted a laceration near his right eye that was not related to the fatal shot. A portion of the backseat passenger window of the Lexus had been shattered.
The investigation quickly led to a suspect, 18-year-old Lin Feng Li. According to witness accounts, Francis, Li, and five other men had been at a house party that was broken up by police. They then drove to the King Soopers parking lot in Francis's Lexus to decide their next move. An argument erupted between Li and Francis, during which Li allegedly struck Francis in the face with a semi-automatic handgun multiple times. During this assault, the gun discharged, firing a fatal shot into Francis's head.
Following the shooting, Li reportedly threatened the other men in the vehicle, warning them not to speak about what they had witnessed. Despite this, acquaintances of Francis provided information to the police that led them to the witnesses. The day after the shooting, members of the Denver Police Department's Fugitive Unit apprehended Lin Feng Li at a hotel in Blackhawk. He was subsequently charged with first-degree murder, three counts of intimidating a victim or witness, and one count of possession of a weapon by a previous offender.
