Two people charged with second degree murder in the shooting death of a Denver woman while attempting to steal her car appeared in Boulder County court Monday.
Martin Cerda, 23, and Adriana Vargas-Martinez, 24, are next scheduled to be in court May 4 for a preliminary hearing — where prosecutors present evidence to a judge, who determines if there's enough to send the defendants to trial.
In addition to the murder charges, both face possession of a weapon by a previous offender charges in an early morning shooting death which started out with a police chase in Larimer County and ended up on a remote road in Boulder County just after midnight Oct. 30.
At 12:15 a.m. that day a Larimer County Sheriff’s Office deputy tried to stop a driver he suspected of being under the influence in unincorporated Larimer County, according to the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office.
Investigators say four people in the Ford Fusion, including Cerda and Vargas, eluded Larimer County authorities and ended up in unincorporated Boulder County. According to the arrest affidavit, Cerda and Vargas had made $30 from selling fentanyl earlier that night. As they were eluding Larimer County deputies, one of the tires on their sedan went flat and they decided to steal a car to replace it.
Investigators believe that 21-year-old Taylor Smith Maxwell and her mother, Paige Rice Norton — who was driving the pair’s vehicle — happened upon the group in the area of Highway 287 and Yellowstone. Cerda allegedly fired into their truck missing Rice Norton and hitting Smith, who was sitting in the passenger seat, according to the arrest affidavit. Smith was rushed to Longmont United Hospital where she was pronounced dead.
Cerda and Vargas were on parole and Vargas had an outstanding warrant for her arrest on a drug distribution charge.
