A Denver jury convicted Donald Gonzales of second-degree murder for killing Gary McLaughlin on May 28, 2021 in the Capitol Hill neighborhood, according to a news release from the Denver District Attorney's Office.
Denver police found McLaughlin, 35, in the street around 3 a.m. at 11th Avenue and Sherman Street suffering from gunshot wounds to the back of his head and his stomach.
Gonzales' arrest affidavit doesn't list a possible motive. One witness who lived nearby told police he tried to help McLaughlin in the street after hearing the gunshots, according to the affidavit. He answered a call coming in to McLaughlin's phone and told the person on the other end about the shooting, before two people who knew McLaughlin, including the caller, ran up to the scene. The witness said they fled when officers started arriving.
Surveillance footage captured Gonzales crashing the car he drove in a parking structure on the 1200 block of Lincoln Street before fleeing the area, according to the affidavit.
Friday, the jury convicted Gonzales, 23, of one count of second-degree murder, according to the release. Jurors deliberated for about six hours.
Gonzales' sentencing is scheduled for May 18 at 1:30 p.m.
