A 13-year-old boy is accused of murdering a Colorado grandfather over a dispute he was blocking the aisle on a public bus last week as relatives were told the man had died when they tried to file a missing person report days later.
Richard Sanchez, 60, was killed only a few blocks away from his home while riding an RTD bus last Saturday night after he allegedly got into an argument with a teenage straphanger, according to Fox 31.
The shooting happened around 6:41 p.m. at the intersection of South Federal Boulevard and West Mississippi Avenue — about 3 miles from Empower Field at Mile High, the Denver Broncos’ stadium.
Sanchez was rushed to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
A second person was hurt and treated at the scene and did not require hospitalization, police said.
Less than a week after the heartless killing, police arrested a 13-year-old suspected in connection to Sanchez’s murder on Thursday.
Police believe the argument between the alleged killer and Sanchez started over the elderly man blocking the aisle with his leg.
“At this stage of the investigation, it appears there was a verbal exchange between the suspect and victim about the victim’s leg blocking the aisle on the bus, and the suspect then shot the victim,” the Denver Police Department told the outlet Friday.
The grandfather’s family was not informed he was killed until they went to police the following Monday to report him as missing.
“It’s been hard because we didn’t know where he was at, and the whole time, he was at the hospital, and they didn’t contact us,” Sanchez’s grandson, Joseph Chavez, told the outlet Tuesday.
“Nobody was there with him during his last breath.”
Chavez said his grandfather’s senseless killing has left him “really heartbroken” and that the whole situation “feels unreal.”
“He was always happy. He was a really happy dude,” Chavez said of his loved one.
The teenage suspect is being held on investigation of first-degree murder, police said.
The Denver District Attorney’s Office will make the final determination of charges, according to the outlet.
At least 178 passengers reported being assaulted or injured while using RTD transit during 2021 and the first two months of 2022, according to RTD records shared by Fox 31.
As of 2023, Denver averaged 6.0 homicides per month.
