Police arrest brother of accused shooter in homicide one block away from Pueblo Mall

PUEBLO, Colo. (KRDO) -- Just days after Pueblo Police arrested 19-year old Issaiah Apodaca in connection to the fatal shooting of 23-year old Isaiah Najera, investigators have arrested and charged his brother, Gary Apodaca.

Police say Gary Apodaca, 23, has been charged with complicity to commit first-degree murder. Investigators say he was driving the vehicle when Issaiah Apodaca shot and killed Najera at the intersection of 29th Street and Hart Road just a block away from the Pueblo Mall last Tuesday.

According to court documents, Najera was shopping at the Pueblo Mall with a friend when they ran into both Apodacas and a 16-year old juvenile. Police believe both parties were in rival gangs.

Witnesses say both sides were confronting one another inside a shoe store, near the food court, and again in the parking lot. One witness told investigators that both Apodaca brothers brandished firearms before Najera and his friend fled the scene.

Issaiah Apodaca told investigators that he and Gary pulled up to Najera's vehicle at a red light, and he fired one round into the car. When officers arrived scene around 3:18 pm they found Najera dead from an apparent gunshot wound to the head.

Apodaca also told investigators he saw a passenger in Najera's vehicle point a gun at him, and that's why he fired his weapon. However, officers did not discover a firearm in Najera's vehicle and the passenger did not have a gun in his possession when police arrived on the scene.