Teen gang member killed mother of young child with AR-15

Top inset: Pamela Cabriales (GoFundMe). Bottom inset: Remi Cordova (KCNC). Background: The location where Cabriales was killed (KCNC).

A 14-year-old Colorado gang member who shot the mother of a young child with a high-powered assault rifle after committing a minor fender-bender at a Denver intersection was sentenced this week.

Remi Cordova, now 18, was convicted Friday of first-degree murder in the killing of 32-year-old Pamela Cabriales, Denver District Attorney Beth McCann announced in a news release. Cordova was charged and tried as an adult after being transferred from juvenile court to district court due to the seriousness of the crime, prosecutors said.

“It’s pointless, it’s evil. We haven't seen any remorse,” Alex Cabriales, the victim's brother, said outside court, local CBS affiliate KCNC reported.

McCann called it a senseless and cold-blooded murder.

“I am very grateful to the jury for reaching this fair verdict. I hope it will provide some comfort and a sense of justice to all who knew and loved Pamela Cabriales,” McCann said in the news release.

The bloodshed occurred at a red light on Colfax Avenue and Interstate 25 on February 20, 2021.

Cordova, a passenger in a car driven by another teenager, Neshan Johnson, believed Cabriales had knocked her car from behind at a red light, the Denver Gazette reported, citing court documents.

“Can I mug her?” The driver said Cordova asked him, according to court documents, the newspaper reported.

“Do what you have to do, that’s up to you,” Johnson responded, according to court documents.

Johnson told police Cordova then got out of the car with an AR15 and fired 15 to 20 shots into the car behind them, according to court documents, local NBC affiliate KUSA reported.

Cabriales was hospitalized and died a few days later. The driver of a car directly behind Cabriales' vehicle was uninjured in the shooting.

Alex Cabriales described his sister's wounds in detail to local Fox affiliate KDVR, saying, “The entire top of her head was blown off. Her brain was exposed.”

“The community needs to know what these people did,” he said. “My sister was beautiful.”

As Law&Crime previously reported, a Denver police officer saw the attacker's vehicle the following day and recognized it from an incident at McDonald's in which shots were fired at the occupied restaurant. The officer pursued the crashed car and the teenagers were eventually arrested after a search.

Cordova was a gang member with a juvenile record.

He bragged to police about his “toy” – the AR-15 – and his rise through the gang's ranks, prosecutor Jacob Friedberg told jurors during closing arguments Tuesday, the Denver Post reported.

“The motivation here is based on a desire to rise in the ranks of the gang world,” he told jurors. “It’s unfortunate that this world works this way.”

Johnson was sentenced to 35 years in prison in June 2023.

Cordova faces life in prison with the possibility of parole after 40 years when he is scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 12.

A GoFundMe page to help raise money so the victim's son can go to college says: “A beautiful soul was the victim of a heinous crime.”

“Pamela Cabriales is a great person and will always do her best to help those in need,” the page reads. She will do anything to make sure her son is taken care of. She is an amazing mother, daughter, sister, aunt and friend.”

Alberto Luperon contributed to this report.

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