Jury in Jefferson County convicts woman of murder
A Jefferson County jury has convicted a 21-year-old woman for her role in the fatal shooting death of a man who was picking up barbecue for dinner when he was robbed.
The jury returned its verdict against Alicia Elena Valdez on Thursday after deliberating for one day, according to a news release from the Jefferson County District Attorney’s Office.
After a six-day trial, Valdez was found guilty of first-degree felony murder, attempted aggravated robbery and conspiracy to commit robbery, the news release said.
Two other accomplices are already serving life prison sentences in the April 5, 2018, shooting death of 27-year-old Andrew Jenicek of Edgewater. Jenicek was picking up barbecue for dinner when Caleb Joseph Vigil, 20, approached him in a parking lot at 20th Avenue and Sheridan Boulevard.
Vigil attempted to rob Jenicek and shot him in the chest while Valdez and 21year-old Devon Drizzt Howard waited in a car, the news release said.
After shooting Jenicek, Vigil got back in the car and Howard ran over Jenicek as they made their getaway, the news release said. Jenicek died at the scene.
Witnesses testified during the trial that Valdez and her two alleged accomplices acquired a gun a few days before the shooting and planned to use it to make money, the news release said.
Howard and Vigil were tried together in April.
On April 30, a jury found Howard guilty of 18 counts, including first-degree murder, attempted murder, aggravated intimidation of a witness, retaliation of a witness and aggravated robbery.
On the same day, the jury found Vigil guilty of 16 counts, including firstdegree murder, seconddegree murder, attempted murder, murder conspiracy and robbery, the news release said.
On May 31, Howard was sentenced to life in prison plus 279 years and Vigil was sentenced to life in prison plus 118 years, the news release said.
Valdez is scheduled for sentencing Aug. 23. She faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison without parole on the murder conviction alone, the news release said.