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Man faces second trial in killings of 2 Colorado Springs teens

Man acknowledges role in killing 2 high school students
Posted at 12:18 PM, Feb 09, 2021
and last updated 2021-02-09 14:21:34-05

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) — One of the two men accused of shooting and killing two Colorado Springs teenagers execution-style in 2017 will be tried again after a jury failed to agree on whether he was guilty of murder.

A jury on Monday convicted Marco Garcia-Bravo of one count of being an accessory to murder in the killings of two Coronado High School students, 16-year-old Natalie Cano-Partida and 15-year-old Derek Greer. Diego Chacon, 20, pleaded guilty to the shooting previously.

READ MORE: Colorado Springs teens killed execution-style and begged for lives, affidavits say

The teens were abducted at gunpoint and driven to a road outside Fountain, where they were shot at point-blank range and their bodies were found on the side of the road on March 12, 2017. Investigators said they were targeted over suspicions that Cano-Partida had been helping a rival street gang. Greer was killed to eliminate a witness.

The jury acquitted Garcia-Bravo on other charges, including first-degree murder and kidnapping, because of the objections of one juror.

After 10 days of deliberations, the holdout juror told the court there was a “zero-percent” change she would change her mind.

In December 2018, Chacon pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree murder in connection to the shooting. His plea deal called for a 65-year prison sentence and didn't require him to testify against Garcia-Bravo. Chacon said that after shooting Cano-Partida, he "passed off the gun to another individual," who then shot Greer. He didn't identify the second shooter.

In total, 10 people were arrested in connection to the shooting.