Accused shooter charged with first-degree murder

The man accused of shooting and killing a woman during an attempted carjacking has been charged with firstdegree murder.

Martin Cerda, 23, was charged in Boulder District Court on Thursday with first- degree murder– extreme indif ference, attempted first- degree murder, second- degree murder, four counts of attempted aggravated robbery, vehicular eluding and reckless driving.

Cerda initially was arrested on suspicion of second- degree murder, but prosecutors on Thursday opted for first- degree murder, alleging Cerda “under circumstances evidencing an attitude of universal malice manifesting extreme indifference to the value of human life generally, knowingly engaged in conduct which created a grave risk of death to persons other than himself, and thereby caused the death” of Taylor Smith, 21.

The codefendant in the case, Adriana Vargas, 24, was charged with seconddegree murder, attempted aggravated robbery and possession of a weapon by a previous offender.

The second- degreemurder charges for Cerda and Vargas were filed under the felony murder theory, which allows prosecutors to charge defendants with murder if someone dies during the commission of a felony, in this case attempted robbery, even if they were not the ones directly responsible for the death.

Cerda and Vargas appeared in court Thursday, when they were advised of their rights and the charges against them by Boulder District Judge Patrick Butler.

Cerda and Vargas were arrested early Sunday in connection with the shooting of Smith.

According to an affidavit, Cerda and Vargas fled Larimer County deputies after midnight Sunday before making their way to the area of U. S. 287 and Yellowstone Road, where they attempted to carjack a truck with Smith and her mother inside.

Witnesses said Cerda fired into the truck, hitt ing Smith. Smith’s mother drove to the hospital, where Smith was pronounced dead.

Deputies and a dog team were able to track Cerda, Vargas and two other occupants of the vehicle.