An Arapahoe County jury today convicted a Denver man of first-degree murder for the 2010 slaying of an innocent bystander during an Aurora liquor store robbery.
Anthony Gillespie, 25, was convicted after a three-week trial and two days of deliberations, according to a statement from the Arapahoe County district attorney’s office.
Gillespie was convicted of killing Benigno Morales-Ramirez, 24, during an April 9, 2010, robbery at Sixth Avenue Liquors. He was also convicted of aggravated robbery and conspiracy.
In the days after Morales-Ramirez’s death, police arrested another man, Elon Raynell Wynn Robinson, 23, in connection with the crime. Robinson was shot during the robbery, according to police records.
Morales-Ramirez appeared to be a bystander who had gone to the store that night to buy beer, police said.
Gillespie was arrested a few months after the shooting and has been held without bond at the Arapahoe County Jail since. Prosecutors said police found the murder weapon in Gillespie’s bedroom.
According to an arrest affidavit, Robinson was shot in the arm and hip during the robbery and later arrested at an area hospital. He pleaded guilty to aggravated robbery and was sentenced to 32 years in prison. He testified for the prosecution early in Gillespie’s trial.