DENVER — A defendant who was 14 when he was charged with a co-defendant in the shooting and killing of a woman after a Denver defense attorney was convicted of the murder.

Friday afternoon, the Denver District Attorney’s office announced that Remi Cordova was convicted by a jury of first-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder.

On February 20, 2021, Pamela Cabriales, 32, was driving west on W. Colfax Boulevard near Interstate 25 when she was involved in a fender bender accident with Cordova and her co-defendant Neshan Johnson, who was 18 at the time and was driving a Honda. Prosecutors said Johnson “acted as the getaway driver” while Cordova, who was in the front passenger seat, got out of the car and shot Cabriales with a high-powered assault rifle after the minor crash.

The accused then fled the scene.

Cabriales died from his injuries.

“We’re all just devastated,” Mayra Zambrano, a longtime friend, Denver7 said in February 2021. “She was such a great person that we can’t see our lives without her.”

Learn more from your loved ones in our 2021 report below.

Family members appeal to Denver district attorney for justice after young mother dies in drive-by shooting on Colfax

During the investigation, officers found eight bullet marks on the windshield, according to a probable cause statement.

Denver police were able to link the Honda to a shooting at the McDonald’s on W. Alameda the night before, where a suspect fired three shots into the restaurant. Surveillance footage captured the car’s license plate. It had been stolen from Aurora, according to the probable cause statement.

Police spotted the Honda the night after the shooting at Colfax and I-25 and used a maneuver to stop the driver on S. Tejon Street near W. Byers Place. Police said an adult and two juveniles took off on foot, but all three were taken into custody. Police found 16 .22 caliber shell casings in the shed where Johnson was found hiding and a .223 caliber shell casing. They also found two AR-15 rifles in the back seat of the Honda.

On March 1, 2021, the Denver District Attorney’s Office announced formal charges against Cordova and Johnson. Both faced charges of first degree murder, attempted first degree murder and more.

Cordova was charged and tried as an adult due to the seriousness of the case. A jury found him guilty Friday of both murder and attempted murder. His charge of attempted murder stemmed from the driver behind Cabriales’ car, according to the DA’s office. That driver was not injured.

Cordova is scheduled to be sentenced on December 12. Because he was a minor at the time of the shooting, he faces a maximum of life in prison with the possibility of parole after 40 years, the prosecutor’s office said.

“I am very grateful to the jury for returning this just verdict, which I hope will provide some comfort and sense of justice to all who knew and loved Pamela Cabriales. This was a completely senseless and cold-blooded murder for which Remi Cordova is now being held accountable,” said Denver District Attorney Beth McCann. “I want to thank the prosecutors, investigators and victim advocates in my office, as well as the detectives at the Denver Police Department, whose extraordinary work led to today’s verdict.”

A jury in Denver in March 2023 found Johnson guilty of two counts of second degree murder, one count of criminal attempt to commit murder, one count of criminal attempt to commit assault, one count of vehicular eluding and one count of accessory to a crime. On 30 June 2023, he was sentenced to 35 years to the Department of Corrections and 14 years of parole.