In the early evening of April 1, 2021, DeAngelo Tafoya, a 22-year-old single father, was waiting for a bus at the intersection of Federal Boulevard and Alameda Avenue in Denver. Tragically, what should have been a routine wait turned into a scene of violence that would cut his life short. Gunshots rang out, fired from a gold SUV, striking Tafoya and another man, 59-year-old David Lara. Both men were rushed to the hospital but succumbed to their injuries.
Tafoya was working two jobs to provide for his young daughter at the time of his death.
The investigation into the double homicide moved swiftly. Witnesses at the bus stop provided a description of the vehicle, a gold Honda CRV. Within minutes of the shooting, Denver police officers located and stopped a vehicle matching the description not far from the scene. Inside the SUV, they found two men, Elias and Tlaloc Chavez, both 22 years old, along with a baby in a car seat. Spent shell casings were reportedly discovered on the floorboard of the vehicle.
A witness from the bus stop positively identified the two men as the shooters. Surveillance footage from a public bus that was at the stop at the time of the shooting also captured the incident, showing two men in a gold Honda CRV firing at Tafoya and Lara as they walked toward the vehicle. Based on this evidence, Elias and Tlaloc Chavez were arrested in connection with the murders.
The Denver District Attorney's Office filed formal charges against Elias and Tlaloc Chavez, including multiple counts of first-degree murder and criminal attempt to commit first-degree murder. The community and the families of the victims were left to grapple with the senseless act of violence that claimed the lives of two innocent men. A year after the shooting, Tafoya's family gathered at the bus stop to hold a vigil, remembering him and calling for justice. The two suspects remain in custody, awaiting trial for the killings.
