Coronado killings: Girl, 16, and boy, 15, executed over missing purse, new records say

Sixteen-year-old Natalie Cano-Partida was told she would at least get to tell her family goodbye.

When she didn't act quickly enough, her killers took the cell phone they had offered her and proceeded with their grim business - shooting her and 15-year-old Derek Greer at close range during a dual execution at a country roadside near Fountain.

They died over a stolen purse, according to previously sealed court documents released Thursday.

The shocking account of the teens' March 11 slayings, made public on orders from an El Paso County judge, marks the first public indication that the Coronado High School students died of multiple gunshot wounds at the same remote location where their bodies were found March 12 - off Old Pueblo Road, a place apparently chosen at random during a harrowing abduction that began in Colorado Springs.

Cano-Partida was the target, and Greer was "only murdered because he was with (her)," one of the suspects told police.

The records suggest a mundane motive for so much senseless violence: One of the teen victims allegedly stole a purse.

Five people ultimately were charged with first-degree murder in the deaths. One of them, Alexandra Romero, told investigators she thought Cano-Partida would be beaten, not killed.

"Things got out of hand," Romero, 22, said she later was told by Gustavo Antonio Marquez, 19, one of three people allegedly present during the slayings.

The account of how Greer and Cano-Partida died is largely based on a voluntary confession by Marquez, also known as Tavo, who identified Diego Carlos Chacon, 19, and Marco Antonio Garcia-Bravo, 20, as the triggermen.

Marquez said the deadly sequence began when Garcia-Bravo, also known as Diablo, picked up Greer and Cano-Partida on March 11 and drove them to the home of Joseph Rodriguez, in the 1100 block of Potter Drive in Colorado Springs. Rodriguez, investigators were told, had nursed suspicions that one of the teens had taken his girlfriend's purse during a party.

When Greer and Cano-Partida showed up that night, Rodriguez threatened them with a crowbar and stole a cell phone, Marquez claimed.

 

Afterward, the teens were placed back into a car and driven around Colorado Springs. Garcia-Bravo was the driver, and Marquez and Chacon were the passengers. Chacon, or Casper, had a pistol at the ready.

"Marquez said as soon as Mr. Chacon got in the car, Mr. Chacon put his arm around (Cano-Partida) and pointed a gun at her stomach," El Paso County sheriff's investigator Rosario Hubbell said in an arrest affidavit detailing the investigation.

As they drove toward Old Pueblo Road, Cano-Partida "begged for her life."

She was told to stop because it "would not change their mind," Marquez said.

At one point during the abduction, Garcia-Bravo handed the teen girl a cell phone and offered her the chance to say goodbye to her family. When she failed to log onto Facebook, however, he took the phone back, telling her, "You lost your chance."

Once at Old Pueblo Road, the teens were forced out of the car and made to assume the "execution position."

Marquez told investigators that Chacon fired two shots at Cano-Partida, possibly while her hands were on her head.

Chacon then handed the gun to Garcia-Bravo, who fired on Greer a moment later, causing the teen to topple forward with his hands still in his sweatshirt pockets.

"Mr. Marquez said Mr. Garcia-Bravo fired multiple shots to include shooting after he fell to the ground," the investigator wrote.

After leaving the bodies where they lay, Marquez said, the trio drove to a gas station at Pikes Peak Avenue and Hancock Expressway, where they bought gas to establish an alibi. Then they drove to the apartment of Endo "Sleepy" Valarde in the 2200 block of East Bijou Steet for a "kickback," or party.

Romero said that during the party, Chacon reportedly said: "They are gone! Diablo did one, and I did the other." Chacon had a pistol in his waistband at the time, she said.

Romero admitted that she played a role in plotting Cano-Partida's abduction, but said she thought Garcia-Bravo, Chacon and Marquez would "beat her up and scare her" - not kill her. She also said Greer was killed because he was with Cano-Partida.

Marquez made the comment about "things getting out of hand" at the same party, she said.

Romero, Marquez, Chacon, Garcia-Bravo and Rodriguez are charged with first-degree murder. Their cases are ongoing.

Arrest affidavits for all five defendants were released at noon by the El Paso County Clerk of Court's Office after having been kept under court seal for nearly six months. The Gazette was among the media outlets that successfully petitioned the judge to release them.

Five other people were arrested after the killings, some accused of playing minor roles in the abductions.

A picture found on Garcia-Bravo's phone proves that he, Chacon and Marquez were together March 11, investigators said, and surveillance footage and cell phone records support portions of Marquez's story. A video from the gas station in Colorado Springs shows Chacon inside the store while Marquez pays for gas.

A security camera at a marijuana business on East Bijou Street also shows the car arriving at Valarde's house - with Garcia-Bravo behind the wheel, as alleged.

Marquez also led investigators to a damaged guardrail where he said Garcia-Bravo dented his car after driving away from the murder scene.