Two people have been sentenced to prison in an April 2024 shooting that killed a teenage boy at a house party in Lakewood, court records show.
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Anthony Allen, 20, took a deal and pleaded guilty in October to second-degree murder in the fatal shooting of 14-year-old Francisco “Cisco” Laqui, according to Jefferson County court records. Philix Baca, 21, also took a deal and pleaded guilty in January to attempted first-degree murder.
Both men were sentenced on March 4 to 25 years in the Colorado Department of Corrections, court records show.
“This case simply should not have happened,” Senior Deputy District Attorney Jacob Mathews said in a statement. “Young individuals soaked in a reckless gun culture on social media came face to face with the very real consequences of gun violence. Their senseless acts put a community in danger and led to the death of a young man.”
Lakewood police officers responded to reports of gunshots near 1165 Garrison St. just before 4 a.m. on April 13, 2024, according to a news release from the First Judicial District Attorney’s Office. Laqui had been hosting a house party at a vacation rental property in the area when he was shot in the head outside the home, according to the release.
Cecellia Nace arrived at the party driving a Nissan Rogue with Baca and Allen as her passengers, according to the district attorney’s office. Joaquin Bustillos arrived in a pickup truck with passenger Martin Ramirez.
As Ramirez, Allen, and Baca approached the residence, they got into an argument with people outside the home, prosecutors said. Allen and Baca returned to Nace’s car, and Ramirez returned to Bustillos’ pickup. As the two vehicles drove away, the three fired their weapons, according to the district attorney’s office.
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Laqui, who was outside the home at the time, was fatally struck in the head by one of Allen’s bullets, prosecutors said. Investigators later determined that Baca’s and Ramirez’s gunshots had not struck any homes or people.
All five participants were originally charged with first-degree murder in Laqui’s death “under a complicity theory,” according to the district attorney’s office, but each of them pleaded guilty to lesser charges.
Bustillos, 23, Nace, 21, and Ramirez, 23, took deals and pleaded guilty to one felony count each of being an accessory to a crime. Ramirez also pleaded guilty to one count of felony menacing.
On Feb. 11, Jefferson County District Court Judge Russell Klein sentenced each of the three to five years of probation, court records show.
“When you look at everyone involved here, Mr. Baca was the bad influence,” Deputy District Attorney Chris Johnson said during Baca’s sentencing hearing, according to the release. “He fired the .45 caliber handgun five times and committed the same act that Anthony Allen did. He was either lucky or simply a bad shot. He then spent more than a year on the run.”
“While Anthony Allen fired the fatal shot, I believe that Mr. Baca is actually more responsible,” Johnson continued.
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