Alleged Shooter Identified In Edgewater Takeout Homicide

EDGEWATER, CO -- Edgewater Police identified the alleged shooter in the death of a Lakewood man who stopped at a restaurant to pick up dinner.

Caleb Vigil, 19, of Denver was one of four people stopped April 8 in connection with the April 5 shooting of Andrew Jenicek, 27, which police say, occurred during an attempted robbery. Also arrested by the Edgewater Police Department were Alicia Valdez, 19 according to an arrest affidavit.

Police are still seeking Devon Drizzt Howard, 20.

Around 8:45 p.m., police found Jenicek lying on the ground in the parking lot of a strip mall in the 2000 block of Sheridan Boulevard with a gunshot wound. Jenicek was declared dead by emergency personnel, the arrest affidavit said. One casing for a 9mm Luger bullet was found near Jenicek's body, police said. Police also found Jenicek's cell phone and wallet nearby.

Investigators obtained video surveillance of a 2006 silver Mitsubishi Eclipse, which was traced to Alicia Valdez.

On Sunday, around 11 p.m. Edgewater police pulled over the car for an illegal left turn and no front plate. The four were taken into custody, and police said they recovered a black Luger 9 mm handgun with a silver barrel from beneath a pillow in the back seat, the affidavit said.

Vigil admitted that the gun was his and told officers, "tell my family I’m going away for along time," the affidavit said. He later refused to answer questions without a lawyer present. Another woman in the car told officers that as officers pulled over the car, Vigil told Alicia Valdez to "run," but she did not. She observed Vigil removing a gun from his waistband and hiding it in the car, the affidavit said.

Police obtained a search warrant for Vigil's Denver apartment in the 1500 block of Ogden Street, and interviewed a friend of Vigil who was staying in the apartment. In the apartment, police found more 9mm bullets and black hooded sweatshirts and pants similar to those worn Thursday in the surveillance video by the shooter.

The friend told police that he was staying in the apartment for about a week, and that on Tuesday Valdez, Howard and Vigil had showed him a gun they had obtained. On Thursday, the friend said the three arrived back at the apartment around 2 a.m. and said they "had just killed someone while trying to rob him."

According to the affidavit, Vigil told the friend that “that they were getting some guy's wallet.” Howard then told the friend that “[Jenicek] was smart and pulled his wallet out of his pocket and dropped it on the ground.” As Vigil reached for the wallet on the ground, the two told their friend Jenicek "reached for the gun and [Vigil] shot him." Howard told his friend he "admits to being the driver and running [Jenicek] over before leaving the scene."

Victim Andrew Jenicek's family said he grew up in Littleton and graduated from D'Evelyn High School, in the Class of 2008. "He had aspirations to pursue a career in finance," a GoFundMe site posted by friends of the family said. The crowdfunding site is raising money for Andrew's funeral.

Image via Edgewater Police