Boy arrested in connection with 25-year-old’s murder in Pueblo; family speaks out

PUEBLO, Colo. (KRDO) - A juvenile boy is now in custody, facing a second degree murder charge for a deadly shooting that happened 4 months ago.

The Gaona family is now speaking out after a minor was arrested for allegedly killing their loved one, 25-year-old Marcos Antonio Colunga-Gaona.

"I just want to make sure he doesn't get away with it, because I wouldn't want somebody else's mom going through the same thing that I'm going to do," said Rosemarie Gaona.

On June 28th, 2023, at around 8:19 p.m., neighbors called to report gunshots fired in the area of Lambert Avenue & West 17th Street, according to the Pueblo Police Department (PPD). At the scene, officers found one man outside on the street suffering from an apparent gunshot wound.

Pueblo Police said the victim died at the scene.

Pueblo Police announced that a juvenile boy was arrested earlier this week and is being accused of second degree murder connected to Marcos's death. Officers would not go into any detail about what led up to the shots being fired; however, the victim's family told KRDO13 that he was walking home after grabbing a soda from a nearby gas station when the gunshots rang out.

"He was confronted by this teenager and when he tried walking away, he shot him, shot and killed him," said Rosemarie, Marco's mother.

While this is one step forward for the Gaona family, Marcos' sister Samantha, said each day without her brother gets harder and harder because everyone else is moving on, while her pain lingers. 

"Regardless if there's charges, regardless if we get justice, Marcos isn't coming back. There's nothing we can do to get him back to us. So we miss out on the laughs. We miss out on the hugs. We miss out on the jokes. We miss out on the smiles. We miss out on Marcos, and that's not fair," said Samantha Gaona.

Pueblo Police are not releasing the name or exact age of the minor who was arrested because he's under the age of 18.