Family of Adam Fresquez demands answers and accountability for his murder
Golden, CO – When Adam Fresquez was murdered in the small suburb of Edgewater just west of Denver, his family was forced to travel all the way to Golden on Friday, August 11 in order to voice their grievances to District Attorney Alexis King. King has refused to press any charges against Fresquez’s killer or even reveal the assailant’s identity. A crowd of around 70 family members, friends, and activists from the community gathered at the DA’s office to demand accountability and transparency in Fresquez’s case.
On the morning of May 3, Adam Fresquez stopped to charge his car at an EV charging station near 20th and Sheridan. While we don’t know what caused an altercation to begin between Fresquez and the unidentified second driver, we do know that the altercation ended with the unknown man macing Fresquez and shooting him twice in the back with an unlicensed and unregistered firearm. The unknown man then fled the scene leaving Adam to bleed out in the parking lot. He later turned himself in but was released without charges with officials stating that the man acted in self-defense. Understandably, Fresquez’s family is confused about how shooting an unarmed man in the back can be classified as self-defense.
This confusion may stem from the D.A. and Edgewater Police’s complete lack of transparency in their investigation. The family has not been allowed access to any video footage or witness statements of the incident and the police have gone to great lengths to protect the identity of the shooter. The community expressed confusion and outrage over those facts.
“We need D.A. Alexis King and the Edgewater police department to do their job,” said Alexander Landau, who has been a leader in police accountability activism in Denver since he was brutally beaten by Denver police in 2009. His organization, the Denver Justice Project, along with the Denver-Aurora Community Action Committee worked together to assist the family in organizing the event. “Fresquez was gunned down and no one has been arrested. That is unjust. That needs to come to an end.”
This is the third action that Fresquez‘s family has held to demand justice since he was killed. Fresquez’s sister, Crystal, spoke about the toll this struggle has taken on her family. “We can’t even mourn. We can’t grieve for my brother because we’re too busy fighting for justice for him.” Surrounded by crying loved ones, she stated, “When can we have that time for ourselves to go through that as a family?”
Despite the heavy emotional cost to the family, they’ve made it clear that they intend to keep fighting until justice is won. “I’m hoping and praying to God we don’t have to do anymore of these [demonstrations],” said Crystal “but if we do, we’ll do whatever it takes until we get what we want and that’s justice for Adam.”
After addressing the crowd, a small contingent of family and close supporters attempted to enter the office and demand a meeting with DA King. This group was stopped at the door by a police officer who claimed that King was not in the building. They were forced to stand in an atrium while they wrote letters to her describing Adam and what he meant to each of them. Demonstrators left a wreath of photographs on the door which highlighted Fresquez’s connections to his family and community. The crowd continued to picket in front of the office for a while before deciding to disperse with chants of “We won’t take this any longer! We’ll be back! We’ll be stronger!” The family is demanding that Fresquez‘s killer be charged with murder and his identity be released.