Boy, 17, sentenced to 35 years for fatal shooting at Aurora event center

AURORA | A 17-year-old boy, charged as an adult, was convicted of murder and sentenced to 35 years in prison for shooting and killing another teenager last year at an Aurora event center.

Xavier Garcia, 17, was 16 when he shot and killed 19-year-old Joseph Martinez on March 23, 2024, according to police and court records. 

Police were called that night to the Victory Grange event center at 2025 Tower Road in response to multiple reports of gunshots at a party, according to an arrest affidavit.

One 911 caller reported hearing “over 200 shots of multiple different calibers” being fired, and an arrest affidavit notes many cartridge casings were recovered from the scene.

When police officers arrived, they saw vehicles appearing to flee from the event center. Inside, they found Martinez, who had been shot once in the chest. The officers tried to resuscitate Martinez, but less than an hour later, he was pronounced dead at a local hospital.

Witnesses told officers that Martinez had been involved in an altercation with the ex-boyfriend of his current girlfriend before he was shot. They told police the ex-boyfriend directed another person to attack Martinez, and that person shot Martinez.

One witness shared an invitation to the party that was posted on Instagram, and another said they believed the ex-boyfriend and shooter were affiliated with the organizers of the party.

A former Hinkley High School student provided a video of the shooting to an Aurora Police Department school resource officer, who forwarded it to investigators on March 25.

The next day, Aurora police were contacted by an Arvada Police Department detective who identified the juvenile behind the Instagram account that had posted the invitation as the Garcia, according to police records.

Police showed the video of the shooting, in which the teen was visible, to witnesses, along with a photo lineup that included his driver’s license picture — those witnesses identified the teen as the shooter with varying degrees of certainty.

“This young defendant shot and killed a fellow teenager for nothing,” said District Attorney Brian Mason said in a statement. “His actions were outrageous, unjustified and devastating. This case is yet another tragic example of the devastation caused by youth gun violence. A 19-year-old lost his life, and a 17-year-old threw his future away with senseless act of violence.”