A fatal shooting in November that killed a Greeley teenager near the University of Northern Colorado stemmed from a disagreement over buying marijuana vape cartridges, according to a recently unsealed affidavit.
Marco Ruiz-Villescaz, 19, shot 19-year-old Jesus Solis on Nov. 2 after Solis had come to Ruiz-Villecaz’s house in the 2000 block of 9th Street to buy the cartridges, according to the affidavit for Ruiz-Villescaz’s arrest.
Ruiz-Villescaz faces charges of two counts of second-degree murder, a count of attempted second-degree murder and two counts of illegal discharge of a firearm — all felony charges, according to an affidavit for his arrest.
About 7:10 p.m. Nov. 2, Greeley police responded to the shooting, which occurred just south of the University of Northern Colorado’s Central Campus.
The Tribune is choosing not to name the others involved, as none of them face any charges stemming from the shooting.
The first officers on scene saw a white Chevrolet pickup that had crashed into a parked car on the east side of the road. When officers got closer, they saw an unresponsive man — identified as Solis — lying on the ground outside the pickup, bleeding from his head, according to the affidavit. Police say Solis had suffered several gunshot wounds to his head and torso.
Another man — later found to be the passenger in the truck when Solis was shot — was nearby, frantically calling for help, according to the affidavit.
Medical personnel rushed Solis to North Colorado Medical Center, where he was later pronounced dead.
Police began speaking with neighbors and learned one neighbor came outside after hearing the gunshots and started recording a video on his cellphone, according to the affidavit.
Police say the video showed three men hiding behind a parked car across the street from the pickup while Solis’ friend was screaming for help. The three then ran between two houses on the west side of 9th Avenue and disappeared out of frame of the video, according to the affidavit.
Moments later, someone drove a white Chevrolet Cobalt south down 9th Avenue, briefly slowing down while passing the pickup, before parking in front of the house from which the video was being taken. One of the three men who had been hiding then ran up to the passenger side of the Cobalt, opened the door and reached down into the vehicle, according to the affidavit.
The driver and a passenger got out of the Cobalt and followed the man between the same two houses, police say.
After seeing the video, officers inspected the Cobalt — which was still parked in the same spot — and learned the vehicle was registered to an address in the 2600 block of 14th Avenue Court.
Officers collecting evidence on scene found “at least eight to 10” shell casings in the front and back passenger areas of Solis’ truck, as well as one on the ground outside near where he was lying, according to the affidavit. Police said the casings were from two separate handgun calibers: 9mm and .40 caliber.
Though they observed the evidence from only outside the truck, police determined it was “very plausible and likely” that someone from inside the vehicle had fired shots as well.
Meanwhile, the front seat passenger in the pickup gave officers a statement at the Greeley Police Department.
He told officers that Solis picked him up to go buy marijuana vape cartridges from a friend Solis knew from a street racing club, according to the affidavit. When he and Solis arrived, a man in a hood approached the pickup.
Solis and the man then got into a “verbal exchange,” the friend told police, before he heard a barrage of gunfire. He estimated at least six shots fired. The friend told police he did not have a gun and did not shoot back, but he wasn’t sure if Solis had a gun.
When officers finished speaking with the passenger — roughly five hours after the shooting — officers returned to the 2000 block of 9th Avenue to speak with residents of the house where they believed the men in the video had gone.
Officers spoke with Ruiz-Villescaz’s mother, who said he arrived about 10 minutes before the shooting with a group of friends but had left about an hour before officers arrived, according to the affidavit. She told officers Ruiz-Villescaz and his friends were huddled together on the east side of the house near the detached garage when she came outside to see what had happened, police said.
The detached garage is directly behind where police say the men were seen disappearing out of the cellphone video frame.
Police then went to the 14th Avenue Court address to which the Cobalt was registered and spoke with the owner, who police say was initially hesitant to provide many details but voluntarily spoke with a detective.
The vehicle owner told the detective that he and another friend were driving around when the passenger got a call from a friend. The friend asked them where they were and what they were doing, followed by a succession of gunshots, he told police. The two said they didn’t hear anything else from the friend on the call, according to the affidavit.
The man said he knew that friend frequently hung out with Ruiz-Villescaz at the 9th Street address, so he drove to the house since they were nearby, he told police.
When he parked on 9th Avenue, the friend who had called ran up to the passenger side of the Cobalt and opened the door, saying there was a shooting and that they needed to go in a hurry, according to the affidavit. The three ran toward the 9th Street address where Ruiz-Villescaz and two others were waiting, he told police.
He later said that while the five were in the house’s basement, he heard Ruiz-Villescaz say that he shot at Solis’ truck and thought he may have hit two people, according to the affidavit. He told the detective Ruiz-Villescaz also said one of the people in the truck pulled out a revolver, but they hid it before police arrived.
Later that day, several detectives contacted Ruiz-Villescaz at the 9th Avenue address, according to the affidavit. He originally denied any involvement in the shooting, telling police his mom had just let him know his friends had arrived. When he walked outside to meet them, Ruiz-Villescaz told detectives, he heard the crash.
He told detectives that he bought five vape cartridges from a friend and had sold two to Solis earlier the day of the shooting. He said he decided to sell two more to Solis that night but that Solis never let him know that he had made it to the house, according to the affidavit.
He denied meeting with Solis outside, telling detectives he did not own a gun and was not assaulted or robbed for the cartridges, police say.
Detectives later secured full statements from two of the men seen on the cellphone video at the Greeley Police Department.
One of them told detectives he had picked up a friend — whom detectives had not spoken to when the affidavit was filed — and went to Ruiz-Villescaz’s house where Ruiz-Villescaz and his brother were already waiting, according to the affidavit. Another said he found it odd that Ruiz-Villescaz was going to sell the cartridges to Solis, because he knew the two had previous disputes, police say.
When Solis arrived, Ruiz-Villescaz left the group outside the home to go make the transaction, a witness told police. When they heard gunfire, three men from the group — those seen in the cellphone video — ran to the curb just in time to see the truck crash, the witness continued.
Both witnesses told detectives that Ruiz-Villescaz later said one of the men in the truck punched him in the face and took the cartridges out of his hand, according to the affidavit. As Solis began to drive away, Ruiz-Villescaz opened fire, one recalled.
The witnesses also told detectives that they saw Ruiz-Villescaz with a red revolver the night of the shooting, according to the affidavit. One said he saw the gun in Ruiz-Villescaz’s hand while he was shooting — contradicting his earlier story that he just heard the gunshots — while the other just recalled seeing it in the basement later.
Greeley police arrested Ruiz-Villescaz on Nov. 6 — a day before his 19th birthday, according to Weld arrest records. He is being held at the Weld County Jail on a $750,000 bond ahead of a preliminary hearing July 2 in Weld District Court.
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