Forensic pathologist: 'No way' victim in 2016 gang shooting could have survived
Joe Moylan
jmoylan@greeleytribune.com
Even if the victim of a 2016 gang-related shooting had immediate access to a hospital, the odds of survival would have been razor thin, a forensic pathologist said during the trial of Lee Arthur Scott III.
Scott, 27, of Evans, was in the midst Thursday of a nearly two-week trial scheduled to continue through May 31 before Weld District Court Judge Julie Hoskins. He is charged with the second-degree murder for the July 2016 shooting death of Jose Jaquez, 27, in a trailer park in the 800 block of 26th Avenue.
Dr. Michael Burson, a forensic pathologist, was on the stand Thursday when he was asked about the single gunshot wound to the chest that killed Jaquez. The bullet, which did not exit Jaquez's body, caused significant internal damage as it impacted the diaphragm, liver, both lungs, the left and right atria, and the superior vena cava before coming to rest near the sixth rib under the skin, Burson said.
The superior vena cava is a large vein that carries blood from the head, neck and upper extremities back to the right atrium of the heart.
"The bullet went through upper part of heart and vena cava," Burson said when asked by Weld Deputy District Attorney Tamara Love the likelihood Jaquez could have survived his wounds. "Unless it happened right in front of the hospital, there was no way it (the heart) would have been salvageable."
The night Jaquez was killed, he, his brother and a friend finished up a night of drinking by driving around Greeley looking for Jaquez's brother's ex-wife, according to court records. The brother, Leo Jaquez, told police they found a mobile home where he thought his ex-wife was and confronted a group of men there.
Another witness told police the confrontation started after the Jaquez brothers and their friend approached the trailer with a knife, a bat and a crowbar. During the fight, a single gunshot rang out.
Joseph Hernandez was living in the trailer park at the time, next door to where the alleged fight and subsequent shooting took place. He testified Thursday his wife woke him up because of an argument she could hear out on the street. Hernandez turned off his air conditioner to get a better listen when he heard the gunshot.
Hernandez first went to the front of his house, where his children were watching TV, to make sure his family was OK. When he looked outside, he saw a silver Dodge Durango speed from the scene on 26th Avenue.
"I saw someone else (later identified as Leo Jaquez) pulling a man out into the middle of the street and toward another car," Hernandez said. "Another woman was screaming hysterically. I tried to help. It happened so fast the police were there within a couple of minutes, if that."
Scott's trial resumes at 8 a.m. Friday.
— Joe Moylan covers crime and public safety for The Greeley Tribune. Reach him at jmoylan@greeleytribune.com or at (970) 392-4467.