Monitor helps nab shooting suspect

A 25-year-old man already charged in connection with a July 9 shooting death at a 7-Eleven after his ankle monitor showed he was at the scene, also has been tied by the same satellite-linked device to two other crimes including a drive-by shooting hours earlier in which three people including a 3-year-old boy and 6year-old girl were wounded.

Denver District Attorney Beth McCann formally charged David “3D” Houston on Tuesday with five counts of attempted first-degree murder, three counts of first-degree assault and one count of illegal discharge of a firearm.

The latest charges stem from a July 8 drive-by shooting on the 5100 block of North Titan Court. Denver Police Department’s shot-spotter equipment set off an alarm about shots fired at 9:37 p.m.

Police were also called moments later about a drive-by shooting at that location, according to an arrest warrant affidavit.

A Denver police corporal was eating tamales outside with his family when he saw the same white car pass by three times. On the third pass, someone yelled “East Side,” and then began firing gunshots.

A 26-year-old man was shot in the foot. He said he saw two people in the front seat and one in the back, the affidavit says. He ran inside his home and discovered his 3-year-old son and 6year-old niece had also been shot. The man who was wounded said he works all the time and doesn’t have any disputes with anyone.

Detectives obtained video surveillance that captured a view of the car just before the shooting.

The ankle monitor also was traced to the neighborhood where a robbery happened at 42 N. Crown Blvd.

The vehicle used on July 8 in the drive-by shooting appears to be the same one used hours later in the early morning robbery, beating and shooting death of Justin Slyter, 39, at a 7-Eleven on the 500 block of East Colfax Avenue.

A 7-Eleven video captured an image of the white sedan used in that shooting. Later that morning, Houston surrendered to police, denying involvement in the 7-Eleven shooting. He told police he was drinking that night and everything was a bit “choppy.”

Houston was charged on July 13 with felony murder and robbery in Slyter’s death.

A relative of said Houston stole the gun used in the shootings from him, the affidavit says.