Isaiah Rivera Najera was 23 and a Pueblo, Colorado resident when he was shot dead after leaving the Pueblo Mall on November 17, 2020. What began as a confrontation inside a shoe store and near the food court escalated into a pursuit after Najera and a friend left in a vehicle. The pursuing car, driven by Gary Apodaca, pulled up beside Najera’s vehicle at a red light at 29th Street and Hart Road about a block from the mall. Witnesses say Issaiah Apodaca fired a single shot into Najera’s car; the bullet struck Najera and his vehicle mounted a curb. Police arrived around 3:18 p.m. and found him unresponsive; he was pronounced dead at the scene from an apparent gunshot wound to the head.

Investigators classified the incident as gang-related. Issaiah Apodaca, 19, was arrested and charged with murder; his brother Gary, 23, was charged with complicity to commit first-degree murder as the driver. Issaiah told police he fired after seeing a passenger in Najera’s car point a gun at him, but searches of Najera’s vehicle and the passenger did not recover any firearms. Does anyone have information about the mall confrontation or the events at the intersection?